Heartbroken
by YungVodkaDikost
Summary: After multiple deaths over the years, Sakura has come to the decision that she cannot continue on this way. The village has become nothing but a nightmare with the dead as the demons haunting her. Not knowing what else she can do, she leaves the village in hopes of finding a way to deal with her demons. Rating may change. Warning: Mentions of rape and other dastardly things.
1. Prologue

**So I'm back with another dealy. This was just a random thought that came to mind. If people enjoy it, I will probably make this into a full length chapter story. Let me know your opinions, review, follow, and favorite. :)**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper**

* * *

Sakura sighed as she walked down the streets of Konaha, she pushed her bubblegum colored hair and looked up at the sky. It was going to rain again, she supposed it only seemed fitting after the way her last mission went. She'd cried herself to the point where no tears remained, it seemed that Mother Nature was going to lend her a hand and provide her with the skies tears. Seeing as she could no longer bring herself to cry on single tear anymore. She sighed once more and made her way back towards the Hokage tower. Even though her mission was a complete failure, she still had a report to make. She knew that Tsunade wouldn't be upset with her, because failures happen, but it didn't make her feel any better about the fact that she had failed.

It had been a simple healing mission but due to quite a few complications, it was a total bust. First she had been cornered like a lowly street rat, then she was hit in the neck with a poisoned senbon that had rendered her useless. She wasn't even able to use her chakra to filter out the damned poison! It had just been one mistake after another. Sakura was starting to see a pattern, every mission she had taken in the last few months was either finished with extreme difficulty or was a failure entirely. She didn't know what had changed so much that it would make this much of a difference. Maybe she was out of practice? She did take some time off after Naruto had brought back the news of Sasuke's death. Had she really taken off that much time? She didn't really remember just how long she had been out of it after she had received the news. All she could remember was being told and falling to her knees in a heap, screaming her lungs to the point of severe pain as she mourned her friend.

Unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't the first person from their group from the Academy to pass into the next life. Two years ago they had lost Neji in a battle against an army of rouge ninja. Two months later, they lost TenTen to her sorrow and the longing for the man of her dreams. Lee and Gai had been total wrecks after that, neither male yelled about youth anymore. Their green jump suits were gone and replaced with traditional ninja attire. You rarely saw their blinding smiles anymore. Their hearts were completely broken.

A year ago they had lost Ino to a massive heart attack, nobody had even seen that one coming. She had been so healthy and there had been nothing wrong with her before hand. When she died, it had hurt none other than Sai the most. After Sai had figured out how to appropriately show his emotions, the two had been joined at the hip. They had become not only best friends, but even lovers. Sakura smiled as she remembered the day that Ino announced that she and Sai were finally a couple. All of their friends had gone out for drinks to celebrate.

A few months after that, they had lost Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino when the leader of Akatsuki had leveled the village. They had been crushed under the rubble of the Academy. Although all of their friends knew they went out protecting their home and that they had willingly given their lives in order to save the children that were still in the building, it had been truly heartbreaking for everyone around them. Not only had two of the most prominent clans in the village lose their heirs, the village had lost two irreplaceable shinobi and a wonderful nin-dog, they had lost three amazing people.

And now, on a mission she had gone on alone, she had lost the person she had been sent to save. After being attacked on her way to her client, to save them from the sickness that had overtaken them, she hadn't made it in time. With one final sigh, she looked up and realized that she had already arrived at the tower. She slowly made her way up towards Tsunade's office, a plan in mind. She had made her decision and knew what she had to do now.

* * *

After climbing the stairs and a hallway later, Sakura stood in front of not only her Hokage and teachers door, but her mother figure and friends office door. With a deep breath she raised her hand and knocked softly on the door. When she heard Tsunade's muffled,"Come in!" she opened the door and waited for her teacher to look up from the paperwork in front of her.

"So, how'd the mission go?", Tsunade asked, setting down her pen and looking up to look at her pupil. She knew that lately Sakura was struggling, her student was an emotional person and she knew that the deaths of so many of her friends in the last few years had really taken its toll of the young girl.

"It was a failure...I was ambushed on my way to the clients and ended up poisoned. I didn't make it in time. I'm sorry...", Sakura whispered heart-brokenly.

"I see...", her teacher muttered, even though she knew that that was probably the case, she didn't expect her faithful student to sound so heartbroken.

"There's another thing, Shishu...", Sakura started, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She didn't know how her teacher was going to take the news of what she was going to do. But in her heart, Sakura knew this was what she wanted to do. She didn't want to be some weak little heartbroken little girl anymore. She wanted to be strong.

"Well, what is it?", her teacher asked, suddenly serious.

"I want to leave the village and be taken off of the roster. I want to go on my own journey and learn to live with the demons that haunt me. And I don't think that I will be able to do that within the confines of the village.", Sakura explained softly.

"I suppose I cannot stop you, you know I trust you. If this is what you think you need to do, I will not stop you. But you make sure to check in with me every do often, do you understand?", the blond haired Hokage sighed.

"I understand, and thank you for allowing me to do this. I will be gone by tomorrow morning. Please tell the others about what I am doing, but make sure they do not follow me. This is something I have to do by myself.", the pink haired girl said quietly,"Now if you'll excuse me, I want to visit those who have passed and then I need to pack. Thank you again Tsunade, for everything."

"I will take care of the others, do what you must do. This village will always be your home. We will be here waiting if you should ever decide to return. And if not, I will not blame you.", Tsunade said, smiling softly at the girl she had come to think of as her own child.

"Thank you...Tsunade.", Sakura said before turning and leaving the office.

* * *

After stopping the the grave sights of all of her fallen friends, Sakura made her way back home. She knew she was going to have to pack light, seeing as she was basically about to live for god knows how long as a missing-nin. Somehow the thought didn't even seem to bother her, though she didn't know why. She knew she would be put into the Bingo Book as a missing-nin but she was already accepting of that fact. Her freedom from her demons would come at a price and if that was the price she had to pay, so be it.

She grabbed a small back pack out of her closet and grabbed a few sets of clean cloths, plenty of underwear, extra bandages, her toothbrush, a comb, travel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and stuffed them all into her backpack. After packing those things up, she took another bag and made her way towards the kitchen. She packed what non-perishables that she could and threw the rest in the garbage so her fridge wouldn't look like the scene out of a horror movie when someone decided to come clean out her apartment.

Once she was all packed, Sakura laid her packs next to her door and changed into her pajamas and hopped into bed. She wasn't going to bother bringing any momentos from her friends with her, it would only hold her back. She was going to get stronger, not dwell on the past. She decided that tomorrow she would start making her way towards Wave country and go from there. With a destination set in her mind, Sakura quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto headed towards Sakura's apartment to see if she was up for some lunch today. He smiled at the people he walked past in the hallways in her apartment complex. When he reached her door, he pulled out the key she had given him when she first started living in the building and made quick work of the lock and opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was the fact that the place was empty, Sakura wasn't here. He quickly made his way through her apartment hoping to find her. When he reached her bedroom, he spotted a note on her bed, folded neatly. He picked it up and unfolded it gently before reading out loud.

" _To whoever finds this,_

 _I just wanted to thank everybody for everything they have ever done for me._

 _But the time has come for me to leave the village._

 _I want to find my own path and learn to deal with the demons that haunt my every waking moment_

 _Please do not come after me, this is something I must do on my own_

 _Someday we will all meet again, whether it's me coming back to the village or in the next life._

 _I love you all and I will see you soon_

 _Behave yourselves._

 _Love,_

 _Sakura Haruno."_

Naruto lowered the letter, tears streaming down his face. He turned towards her window and make quick work of opening it and jumping out. With as much speed as he could muster, he made his way towards to Hokage tower, Tsunade would know what to do.

 _"Sakura, why did you have to go? Did you not realize how much we need and love you? I'm sorry I didn't realize you were so heartbroken! Please come home!'_

* * *

 ** _Yay! First Chapter done! As always, review, favorite, and follow! Until next time!_**


	2. Welcome to the Family

**And I'm back with the first chapter! Please review, favorite, and follow if you enjoyed.**

 **I do not own Naruto or its characters, just the plot of this story.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper**

* * *

It had been six months since Sakura had left the village, she had traveled far and wide, still not sure of what it was that she was looking for. She looked up at the sky from her perch in the tree she was currently resting in. She watched the stars sparkle with untamed innocence, oh how she wished she could just transcend the sky and be one with the stars. If she were up there within the confines of the stars, she wouldn't have to deal with the demons of her past anymore. A delightful thought, that. The last six months had not been easy by any means. She had not only had to fight off the advances of hunter nin that were out for the bounty on her head, but she had had to deal with the isolation of being completely alone in the world. She didn't regret her choice to leave Konoha, not one bit. But she didn't enjoy the never ending loneliness that seemed to follow her everywhere she traveled. She truly missed Naruto and Tsunade, she really did. But she couldn't return to her village. It just wasn't in the cards anymore. Living in nothing but caves and seedy hotels for half a year had truly opened her eyes to the true ways of life. Life in a village kept you sheltered and coddled. Now that she was on her own, she had come to the realization that all of it was just a sham, village life was a lie. She couldn't help but feel a little betrayed at the fact that she had basically been lied to about the ways of the world for the entirety of her life.

The sounds of rustling in the leaves broke the pinkette out of her thoughts, she silently slid a kunai out of her holster in case she had to defend herself yet again. Now that she thought about it, it kind of seemed pointless. It wasn't like she had a whole lot to live for at this point. But she wasn't about to go out like a coward, she would at least go out fighting.

"I know you are there, little girl. There is no point in hiding. Why don't you come down from your perch?", a voice suggested softly, his voice was soft but monotone. His voice drifted through the wind to Sakura's ears.

Without a word, Sakura jumped down from her perch and landed gracefully about two meters away from where the owner of the voice was standing. She looked straight ahead, unblinking. Realization of who it was hit her like a ton of bricks, hadn't she killed him when she was just a little girl? How in the world was Sasori of the Red Sand standing before her very much alive? She tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to recognize her and attack. But no attack came, she just stared at her.

"What? Not going to ask how it is that I am alive?", he questioned, when Sakura shook her head, he frowned. Where was the loud obnoxious girl he had fought all those years ago? The pink haired woman before him seemed to be a shell of her former self. He didn't dwell on it too much, he wasn't here to figure out what had happened to her, he was here to collect her.

Sakura willed her heart to stop its incessant pounding, she wasn't scared to die, nor was she scared of the man before her. Sure, she thought he was dead, but it wasn't as if she was afraid to die anymore. She wasn't the same little girl she used to be, six months of living in isolation would do that to a person. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to him to make his move or to tell her what he wanted from her.

"Not going to speak to me, little girl? How utterly rude.", Sasori commented, slightly curious as to why she hadn't either run from him or attacked. His eyes trailed down her body, sure she was dirty, but living in the wilderness would do that to you. When Sakura shook her head once again she almost sighed, almost.

 _'Why won't he tell me what he wants? Why isn't he trying to kill me? I technically did kill him all those years ago, at least, I thought I did. I haven't spoken to anyone in six months and I don't exactly plan on starting now. Dear Kami, what does he want from me?!'_ , Sakura thought frantically, careful to make sure her blank face stayed in place. She raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask him why he was here.

"Well I suppose if you won't speak to me or question me, I'll just tell you why I'm here, doll face.", Sasori sighed before continuing,"I'm here to offer you a spot within the Akatsuki. We are are in need of a skilled medic and who better to ask to join than the apprentice of the Hokage and legendary Sanin?"

Sakura was a little taken aback at what he had just told her. She was a little surprised by the fact that the Akatsuki wanted her to join and be their medic. She half expected them to just abduct her and force her to do their bidding, but it seemed she was wrong. Sasori wasn't forcing her, he was offering her. She half wondered why they had sent him to get her and not someone else. Like someone she hadn't killed. She still wanted to know how he was still alive and maybe if she went with him, she would get some answers.

Sasori watched the pink haired medics reaction to his offer, her face never lost its blank look but he saw confusion swim in her jade eyes. He couldn't really blame her for being slightly confused by his offer, especially since it came from someone she had, in a way, killed a few years prior. He almost smiled when she placed her kunai back in its holster on her thigh, so she trusted him enough not to attack her. Or maybe she didn't care if he took an attempt at her life anymore. He raised an eyebrow at her, willing her to answer his question. He didn't like waiting for anybody, but he supposed he could spare a few minutes to allow her to think over his offer. He decided that if he was going to have to wait for her answer, he might as well get comfortable. He lowered himself to the grass and crossed his legs before pulling a scroll out of the sleeve of his cloak. He did a quick hand sign and a small puppet he had been working on appeared in his lap. He pulled a couple tools out of a holster that was strapped to his thigh beneath his cloak and started to tinker with the puppet in his lap.

Sakura watched in awe as she observed Sasori tinker with a puppet, not only was it interesting to watch, she noticed that this puppet was made out of wood. It wasn't made from a human body like all of his other puppets that she had fought all those years ago. She wasn't aware that he had made puppets made out of wood, she thought he stuck to human puppets. Apparently she was wrong, granted she had just assumed he only made human puppets, it wasn't like she knew a whole lot about the red haired missing nin in front of her. She sighed silently and copied his position in the grass and watched him work from a safe distance. She rested her chin in her hands and thought about his offer. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, she wouldn't be alone anymore. That in itself would be a plus. But then again, she would be in the company of some of the most dangerous criminals in the ninja world. But then again...couldn't she technically be counted as a dangerous criminal herself? Since her defection six months prior, she had had to kill to defend herself, kill in cold blood for money to survive, she had had to steal from poor villages to eat. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't much better than any of them.

Sasori sneaked a quick glance up at the woman across from him, he noticed that she wasn't as far away from him as she had been before. Maybe she was starting to get more comfortable with his presence. He supposed that was a good sign at least. She looked as though she was lost in thought, weighing her options. She looked so lost and he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of pity for the woman before him, not that he let her see that. He was Sasori of the Red Sand, murderer of the Third Kazekage, Puppet Master of the Akatsuki, he didn't pity anybody. Or at least, he didn't show it. He glanced back down at his puppet and resumed his work, it seemed lilke he was going to have to wait just a little bit longer. Why couldn't they have sent Deidara or Itachi to find her? They were more patient than him. Then again, they were both out on missions of their own. He had been the only one available to go to her. Kami he hated waiting.

 _'Maybe I should just take him up on his offer, not being lonely out here in the wilderness anymore would be worth it more than anything. I really don't want to be alone anymore. And I could probably use a really long, hot shower. When was the last time I've actually had a decent bath and meal? Two weeks at least if I remember correctly...Yeah, I guess I should probably just take up the offer. If it's really that bad, I can always try to escape and if that doesn't work...well...I can always just stop my own heart and end it.'_

Decision made, Sakura stood back up from the grass and silently made her way over to Sasori. Granted, she was being cautious about it, but what did she have to lose? Absolutely nothing, except for maybe the burning emptiness that seemed to be burning through to her soul. When she came to a stop in front of Sasori, her shadow hovered over him like a dark silhouette. Sasori set his tools down gently before looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Have you made your choice, little girl?"

Sakura nodded her head, apprehension evident in her jade colored eyes. Sasori nodded his head at her and quickly sealed the puppet back into its scroll and placed his tools back where they belonged before standing back up. He brushed the lingering grass off of his cloak before steering her towards the north.

"We head North towards Ame, there you will meet with Leader", He started, when Sakura nodded, he continued,"You will have to speak to him, you can still speak can't you?"

Sakura shrugged, she honestly didn't know if six months of not talking would effect her ability to talk. Granted she could check her vocal cords with chakra to see, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to. But if she had to, she supposed she had no choice.

"I know you can heal yourself, so if you are unable to speak at this time, you will have to heal yourself so you may speak with Leader, little girl. You won't be much use if you cannot speak. Granted, you could write to people what they needed to know but that consumes more time than talking. And much more waiting."

Sakura nodded and raised a glowing hand to her throat, inspecting her vocal cords. She found that they weren't damaged from not being used, but they were a tad swollen. She decided to just go ahead and heal them until they were back to normal. She cleared her throat and let out an audible sigh. Sasori looked at her expectantly.

"Is there anything else I should know?", she asked softly, her voice a little rough from not being used for so long.

"Be respectful, do not interrupt him, keep eye contact, and do as he says."

"Sounds fair, how far are we from Ame?"

"We will be there before nightfall. When we arrive at base, I will escort you to your room where you may clean up. I already arranged for new clothing to be delivered for you. Anything you could possibly require right away will already be in your room waiting for you. Anymore questions, little girl?"

"Just one...why did you already get the things I would need for me?"

"Because I knew you would not refuse."

Sakura stopped dead in her tracks and stared wide eyed at the man in front of her. How did he know she wouldn't refuse?

"If you are wondering why I knew that you would not refuse, it is simple. It is because I know that you didn't enjoy being completely alone out here. I know that you left your village to escape the demons of your past, what those demons are, I do not know. When we arrive in Ame, you will never be alone again, little girl. This may be an organization filled with criminals and degenerates, but we are not terrible people on the inside.", Sasori explained, looking back at her with a small smile.

 _'Did...Sasori of The Red Sand just..smile at me? Holy shit, this guy has emotions? What's next? Itachi is going to be a hugger?'_

Sakura laughed silently at her thoughts before nodding at Sasori, jogging a little to catch up with him. The rest of their walk to Ame was silent. But funnily enough, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence for the pink haired ninja.

* * *

When the duo arrived in Ame, one word popped into Sakura's mind.

Depressing.

It seemed that the village truly did live up to its name. It seemed like the downpour that hovered over the village had to intention of stopping any time soon. Good thing for Sakura, she didn't mind the rain. She actually quite liked it, she found it calming and peaceful. Granted the city was seemed to having a depressing atmosphere, but she supposed that the rain seemed to have that effect on places, especially when there didn't seem to be an end in sight.

She follow Sasori through the cities back alleys and took in the sights around her. The first thing she noticed was that almost every ninja she passed had the insignia on there forehead protectors scratched out. The city seemed to be almost like a haven for missing nin. She could appreciate that, she wondered to herself why she hadn't sought out Ame before now. But she was here now, and that was all that mattered to her now. The second thing she noticed was that there seemed to be a shop for just about everything she could imagine. It seemed that anything else she would need that Sasori and the other members of the Akatsuki had provided her with wouldn't be too hard for her to find in the city. That helped her feel a little more contented at least.

After about a fifteen minute walk, Sasori led Sakura to a building that reminded her slightly of the Hokage tower back in Konoha. She looked questioningly at the man next to her, silently asking where it was that they were.

"This is Akatsuki's tower, it also serves as the head office of the village. Along with being the leader of the Akatsuki, our leader also serves as the leader of this village.", Sasori explained.

"I see, makes sense.", Sakura responded quietly.

Sakura watched in awe as Sasori held up his hand and the ring on his left ring finger began to glow. She returned her attention to the door in front of her when it began to open before them. Sasori beckoned her to follow him as he disappeared into the tower. Sakura made sure to stay as close to the Puppet Master as humanly possible without being completely draped over him. Her being nervous was an understatement. Not only was she about to meet the Leader of the Akatsuki, she was soon going to have to face many people that had either killed someone she knew or she had tried to kill in the past. She didn't know how she was going to handle everything that she was about to experience. She quickly decided that she wasn't going to hold anything against them, and hopefully they wouldn't hold any ill will towards her in return. Things had been different back then. Before, she had been blindly following her villages orders because that had been what she had been raised and basically brainwashed into doing. Now that she was considered a missing nin, she had free will. She could do whatever she felt like doing, and she wasn't going to dent the fact that she liked that idea very much.

Sasori led her towards a door and held his left hand up once again and led her into a dimly lit room. He flicked on a light switch and the room before her revealed to be the bedroom that Sasori had promised her. After giving her a quick run down of where everything was, he left her to clean up after stating that he would be back in an hour to take her to Leader. She nodded her head and he closed the door softly behind him.

* * *

The minute Sasori closed the door, Sakura started the rid herself of her soiled clothes as fast as humanly possible. There was a bathroom to her left and it was calling her name. She'd check out more of her room later, for now she just wanted to be clean! She made her way over to the simple dresser that Sasori had provided for her and pulled out a pair of standard issue ninja trousers, breast binding wraps, fresh panties, and a plain black t-shirt. After grabbing clean clothes, Sakura made her way over to the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as she could stand before diving into the spray. She couldn't help the contented sigh that left her lips as she felt her sore muscles relax under the warm spray.

Once her body was nice and wet, Sakura set to work on cleaning the grime from her now waist length hair. She lathered shampoo into her hair, running her fingers through her tresses before she moved to scrub the grime from every inch of her body. Once she was positively sudsy, Sakura rinsed all the soap from her hair and body before cutting the water off. Oh how she would have loved to stay under the water all day, but she had somewhere to be and someone to meet. She'd just take a long hot bath after her meeting with Leader. She made quick work of drying her body and slipped into her new clothes. She found a brand new brush next to the sink and made quick work and brushing out her now clean hair. She already felt better. Now if she could just get some food in her belly, she would feel one hundred percent better. But food could wait until later.

Sakura heard a knock on her door and cautiously made her way over to the door, opening it a crack to see who was there. When she realized that it was only Sasori, ready to take her to Leader, she opened the door further and stepped out. He motioned for her to follow him and they took off down the hallway.

When Sasori led her to another door, Sakura willed her heart to not betray her and beat wildly. She was quite nervous but she refused to let it show. He held up his left hand again and the seal on the door began to glow just as it had when they entered the base. She swallowed her nerves and stepped into the room before her once Sasori nodded his head. She took a deep breath and looked back at him one last time.

"Everything will be fine, doll. I will meet you back in your room when you have finished."

"Alright, thank you...", Sakura said softly before the red head closed the door behind her.

Sakura noticed a chair in the middle of the room and made her way over to it, nervously sitting in it as she waited for Leader to address her. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there, watching her. She swallowed her nerves and kept her face blank. She could do this. Determination shone in her eyes, she would not fear this Leader person, she was ready.

"So, you are Sakura Haruno. Apprentice to the Hokage and Legendary Sanin Tsunade. Medic ninja and now missing nin.", a voice said, floating around the room.

"Yes, sir.", Sakura responded respectfully.

"My name is Pein, welcome to the Akatsuki.", Pein said, stepping out of the shadows.

* * *

 **Yay! First chapter done! I don't know what possessed me to start yet another chapter fic when I'm still working on Requiem. Oh well, I'll manage somehow. Please Review, favorite, and follow if you enjoyed! Until next time!**


	3. Don't Fear the Reaper

**And I'm back!**

 **I do Not own Naruto or its characters, just the plot to this story.**

 _Summery:_

 _After multiple deaths over the years, Sakura has come to the decision that she cannot continue on this way. The village has become nothing but a nightmare for her with the souls of the dead as the demons haunting her. Not knowing what else to do, she leaves the village in hopes that she can find a way to cope with he demons._

 **Please leave a Favorite, Follow, and Review if you enjoyed!**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper**

* * *

Sakura turned her heads calmly towards Pein as he stepped out of the shadows to her left and took in his appearance, nobody back in Konoha had ever seen the man so not not much was known about him. She took in the many piercings that adorned his face, two fan like studs in his lower lip, three bars through the bridge of his nose, seven rings through his ears, and a bar going vertically through each ear. His spiky orange hair reminded her slightly of Naruto but she didn't let any thoughts of him bother her, she had a new life now. The most interesting thing about Pein she found, was his eyes. She had heard stories of the Rinnegan before, but she had thought it was only a myth. Though she had never seen it in person, the texts she had read about it were quite detailed. The swirling vortex in his eyes looked as if they could hypnotize you if you stared at them long enough. She quickly made a mental note to ask him if she could look at his eyes at some point.

"I thank you for your invitation, though I must ask why me? Surely there are other medics that interest you", Sakura asked calmly, her eyes never leaving his.

"Why you indeed. The fact that you are the apprentice of the Legendary Sanin Tsunade makes you a prize as it is. But you are also a high ranking medic, which we lack in our organization. Another factor was that you as a child were able to not only defeat Sasori, but you were able to destroy his puppet armor and did so with minimal assistance.", Pein explained calmly.

"So you want me for my skill and nothing more.", Sakura stated with a shrug.,"And as for my fight with Sasori, if his grandmother had not been there, I probably would not have won."

"While your skill is the main reason we wish to recruit you, there is more to it. But you will have to figure such things out on your own, or simply ask the other members why they wanted you here. I wasn't the only one that suggested you be recruited.", Pein said smoothly.

"I see, well, I accept your offer.", Sakura said calmly, smiling softly at Pein.

"Good. Tomorrow you will be fitted for a cloak, for now just borrow one from Sasori, he's the shortest one so his should work for now. You much refer to me as Leader in front of other members, but if we should be alone, you may call me Pein. Now, go get yourself fed and rested. I will send for you when I have your first assignment and figure out who I will be partnering you with. You will most likely be put into a three man team", Pein explained before dismissing her.

"Understood, and thank you.", Sakura said softly before standing from her chair and exiting the room.

* * *

Sakura made her way down the hallways, she went over her conversation with Pein in her head before smiling softly to herself. She had been in this place for about two hours and she was already starting to feel at ease. She knew it would be unwise to let her guard down though, she had still yet to meet the rest of the members of the Akatsuki. Though she had met a few of them before, it had been as enemies. This time, she would be meeting them as comrades. She rather liked the sound of that. She could tell that her six month isolation from people was starting to catch up with her again. She decided that she would just bite her tongue for now and just speak when spoken to. The smells of food cooking snapped Sakura out of her musings, she hadn't even realized that she had arrived in the kitchen. Nor did she remember Sasori telling her where the kitchen. She shrugged, oh well, she made it there nonetheless.

"So, how'd it go?", Sasori asked as he set a bowl of stew down on the table and motioned for Sakura to sit.

Sakura sat at the kitchen table and stirred her food slowly,"I accepted his offer, he gave me a few insights as to why I was wanted here. I'm supposed to ask you for a spare cloak until I can get fitted for one tomorrow and have my own made for me.", Sakura explained before taking a small bite of her food.

"I see, we will make a stop at my room once you have finished eating and grab one for you. Then I'll show you around the base.", he nodded.

"That works for me, I suppose. Are there any other members in the base right now? Or is it just us?", Sakura asked quietly, taking another bite of her food.

"There are a couple of other people in the base right now, but I'm sure you'll meet them when I show you the training grounds.", Sasori smirked before reaching into his pocket at pulling out a lollipop. He unwrapped it quickly and popped in in his mouth,

"Fearsome Sasori or the Red Sand, former human turned puppet and then human again, has a sweet tooth.", Sakura giggled around a spoonful of her food.

"Like I said earlier, not all of us are as terrible as the rumors and Bingo Books make us seem.", Sasori shrugged before taking Sakura's now empty bowl to the sink and turned back to her.

"Time for my grand tour?", Sakura guessed.

"After we make a stop at my room for a cloak for you then yes, I'll give you the tour.", he smirked.

* * *

After a quick run to Sasori's room, which to Sakura's delight, was only two door down from her own room, the tour began. Sasori pointed out whose room whose as they walked down the hall. She found that her room was squished between a man named Hidan and Deidara's room. She had raised an eyebrow at him when he had told her that he would pray for her. She didn't know what the hell that was supposed to mean, so she just rolled with it and shrugged.

Next he pointed out the library, which Sakura was convinced that she was going to live in the damn room. There were shelves lining every wall that reached the ceiling, she had to resist the urge to drool when she took in the sight of over stuffed bookshelves. She couldn't wait to get her hands on all of that unknown knowledge that lied within that room. Her hunger for knowledge was back and she couldn't wait to begin. Sadly that would have to wait, considering Sasori had to drag her out of the library by her wrist, promising to bring her back there later.

Their next stop was the laundry room. Yes, the S-Class criminal organization Akatsuki did their own laundry. Sakura didn't bother to try to stifle her giggles. The thought of any one of them doing something so domestic was just too much. Noticing her giggling, Sasori rolled his eyes and dragged her out of the room. Once they exited the laundry room, he showed her where other bathrooms were, the dining room, the spare kitchen that she wasn't going to question. Finally they were on their way to the training grounds. It seemed it was time to meet her new comrades. She swallowed her nerves and followed Sasori outside as calmly as she could.

* * *

The minute the duo stepped onto the training grounds, Sakura wanted to turn her ass around and head right back in. She didn't know Itachi would be here and she wasn't sure that she was ready to face him just yet. Sure, she had known him as a small child, but he had changed a lot since then. She remembered the times that he had carried her on his shoulders when she was just a child of five years. She didn't want to see him as the man who had murdered his entire family, save for his younger brother. Granted, she knew the truth about the massacre, but that didn't change a whole lot. He had still killed them. She noticed two other people on the training grounds as well, two people she had never seen before. One had most of his face covered by a mask, only his dark green pupil-less eyes showing. He was staring at her intently, as if trying to stare into her very soul. She had to stomp down the urge to cringe under his scrutiny. The other man staring at her was shirtless, a pendant hanging from his neck in a thick chain. She recognized the symbol the minute she laid eyes on it, Jashinism. She'd studied it one day when she was bored back in Konoha. She had found the concept quite interesting. His violet eyes bore into her, she noticed that, even thought he had obviously been training, not a silver hair was out of place. All of it was still perfectly slicked back.

Sasori sensed that she was starting to become slightly uncomfortable with all of their eyes on her. He knew that Itachi and Sakura had had some sort of relationship in the past, being from the same village and all. He let out a soft sigh and patted the top of Sakura's head before addressing the men in front of them.

"This is Sakura Haruno, our newest recruit. A couple things, before you ask. No, Kakazu, you cannot kill her and collect her bounty. I don't care how much it is.", Sasori began, glancing at Sakura when she flinched at the thought of killing her,"And you, Hidan, no sacrificing her."

"I wasn't going to collect her bounty, I wanted her here too you know."

"And I wasn't going to sacrifice her, have some fucking faith in me."

"Do you not have anything to say to me, Sasori?", Itachi asked in his typical monotone.

"Not really.", Sasori shrugged.

Sakura could feel the tension building between the raven haired Uchiha and Sasori. She didn't know if their tempers would get the better of them but she didn't want to risk it. She slowly started to back away from her post at Sasori's side and towards the door. She only stopped when she felt her body impact with, from what she could tell, was a human body. She flinched before slowly looking up, realizing that not only had be backed into Hidan, she hadn't even sensed his presence. She stared up at him wide eyed, not know what to do. She couldn't help but flinch once again when he smirked down at her.

"Oi, ladies, I think you're scaring the kid. Stop comparing dick sizes and get your asses over here.", Hidan snapped at the glaring duo.

Both men slowly turned their head to see that Sakura had not only moved, but that she was being held against Hidan's chest with one hand while the other was absentmindedly stroking her hair in a calming manner. All three other men in the room had to do a double take to make sure what they were seeing was real. Not only was Hidan trying to soothe someone, he didn't threaten to kill either of the arguing men.

Sakura didn't know what she was supposed to do, she was being held against a man she didn't know's chest, his hand stroking her head. That wasn't what bothered her most though, it was the fact that it was actually calming her down. She felt like she could fall asleep right where she stood. She didn't even mind the fact that Hidan's hand was keeping her tucked against him and he slowly stroked her head. How long had it been since she had been comforted by anybody? She didn't even remember anymore.

"Hidan...Why are you holding Sakura like a man would a lover?", Itachi asked, an eyebrow raised at the silver haired Zombie Twin.

"Because you two asstards were scaring her.", Hidan retorted.

"Since when do you care about anybody other than yourself?", Sasori asked, eyeing Hidan suspiciously.

"I don't, I just didn't want the kid to cry.", he argued.

"You do realize she'd completely passed out in your arms, right?", Kakazu pointed out.

"She's what?", Hidan asked, looking down to see that Sakura was indeed, fast asleep standing up in his arms. Hidan rolled his eyes before moving to pick the girl up, he tucked the hand that he had been stroking her hair with under her knees, picking her up bridal style.

"You're actually going to carry her?", Kakazu asked his partner, clearly a little surprised by his silver haired partners actions.

"What else am I supposed to do, huh? Now then, Puppet fuck, where's her room?", he scowled.

"Between yours and Deidara's.", Sasori answered with a roll of his eyes at the Zombie Twins choice of nickname for him. He nodded at the other two men in the room, completely forgetting about his glaring contest with Itachi, before following Hidan back into the base. He knew that their new pink haired medic would be safe with the Jashinist, but he wasn't sure he was all that ready to let her out of his sight just yet.

* * *

Kakazu and Itachi watched the two men leave, one carrying their new medic. Both men glanced at each other as if asking a silent question. When both men nodded, Kakazu spoke.

"Am I the only one that noticed that Sasori is quite protective of the girl?", Kakazu asked.

"You are not, I seem to have noticed that Hidan is already feeling the need to protect the girl. I wonder why that is?", Itachi added.

"I suppose we will just have to wait and see.", Kakazu nodded, when Itachi returned his nod, the two made their way back into the base.

* * *

Hidan knew that the red haired Puppet Master was following him. He knew that the Puppet Master was already quite fond of the girl. He knew that the pink haired medic was named Sakura and that she was their new member. He knew that Sakura had just shifted and had buried her nose in his collarbone, mumbling sleepily. What the silver haired ninja didn't know, was why the hell none of this bothered him! Why did he care if Itachi and Sasori were scaring her out on the training grounds. Why did he feel like he needed to soothe her when she was scared? Why in Jashin's name was he carrying her to her room?! He figured maybe he needed a mission to get his ass back into shape, sitting around the base was making him soft. And if there was something that Hidan was not, it was soft. He was a hardened criminal, not some Prince Charming.

Hidan decided he would ask Leader for a mission after he dropped off the pink haired medic in her room. There was no way in hell he was tucking her in though. That would be going way too far and be way too soft for his liking. Sasori stepped in front of him and quietly opened Sakura's bedroom door, beckoning him to follow him in side. Sasori quickly pulled down the blankets on Sakura's freshly made bed and nodded his head as if to tell Hidan to lay her down. The puppet master made quick work of replacing the blanket over Sakura's body before both men exited her room.

The moment Sakura's door clicked shut, Sasori whirled and stared at the silver haired Zombie Twin before him.

"You're being strangely nice to her, and you've never even met her until now. What gives?", Sasori scowled.

"Aww, is the puppet fucker jealous? Calm down dude, I don't know why I did all that shit just now. I just kind of did. No need to get your panties in a bunch.", Hidan retorted, slightly amused by the obvious jealousy that was radiating off of the red head.

"You know damn well I am not jealous, how could I be? I picked the girl up this morning. I just don't want to see our new medic hurt so soon. I only just got her to talk to me a half and hour before we got to base.", Sasori growled.

"Speaking of talking, I just realized she didn't say a damn thing to any of us on the training ground. You know, before you and Itachi started arguing like bitches.", the silverette pointed out.

"I know, from what I understand, she hasn't spoken at all since her defection from her village. From what I gathered, she didn't even want to speak at all but I was able to convince her that she would have to talk to Leader. When she does speak, it's quite formal and respectful. She won't speak unless spoken too.", Sasori sighed.

"Just what happened to her to make her defect anyway?", Hidan asked, with the new bits of information that Sasori had given him, he couldn't help but be a a little bit curious.

"I don't know, quite honestly. That would be a question you would have to ask her. If she will even speak to you. Gain her trust, make her feel comfortable around you, then ask. Don't push her. Whatever happened before she defected obviously broke her in some way.", Sasori answered seriously. That last thing he wanted was for Sakura to close back up on him.

The two men nodded at each other before heading towards their rooms, deciding to take Sakura's lead and turn in for the night.

 _'What ever it is that hurt you, Pinky, they'll pay.'_

* * *

 _Back in Konoha_

"What do you mean I can't go after her?!", a blond shouted,"She's been gone for six months and hasn't returned!"

"I'm fully aware of how long it has been, Naruto. However, I cannot allow you to go after someone who is not with us anymore."

"What do you mean by 'not with us anymore'?! Answer be Grandma Tsunade!"

"What I am saying Naruto, is that Sakura left the village. She is a missing nin now. She made the choice to leave. You are not allowed to look for her whatsoever. Unless a mission dictates that she must be eliminated, you are not to do anything about her. Am I understood? You read her note, Naruto. She doesn't want to be found or followed."

"Yeah...I hear you..."

"Good, now get out of my office."

* * *

Naruto left the Hokage's office feeling as if part of his very soul had been ripped out. First he had lost Sasuke, but now he had lost Sakura as well. Granted she was still alive, but she was a missing nin now. She had defected, she had left him behind, she had betrayed the village, betrayed him! He turned towards the gates of the village and a thought struck him.

Tsunade never said anything about him accidentally running into her while on a pleasant stroll outside of the village.

He smirked to himself, maybe there was a chance that Sakura had not strayed too far from the village. Without a second thought, Naruto rushed towards the gates of the village, determined to see if Sakura was still hanging around the outskirts of the village.

 _'Don't worry Sakura, I know you want to come home. I'm sorry that I left you all alone, I know you were heartbroken. I just want you to come home so I can help you!'_

* * *

 **Yay, there's chapter two. Sakura met a couple members of the Akatsuki, she's now a member, and the lucky broad got a Hidan cuddle. So jealous. Anyways, until next time. Please leave a favorite, follow, and review if you enjoyed. I do not have a beta for this story so please excuse any errors that there might be. Please let me know if there are so I can go back and fix them.**

 **Until next time!**


	4. Whispers In My Head

**Yay! Time for the third chapter.**

 **I do not own Naruto or it's characters. Just the plot to this story.**

 **Please leave a review, follow, and favorite if you enjoyed.**

 **Until next time.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper**

* * *

When Sakura awoke the next morning, she shot up from her bed with an ear piercing scream.

 _'Where the hell am I?!'_

She looked around the room frantically, her eyes landing on the bedroom door in front of her. She quickly threw her blankets aside, taking off in a sprint for the door.

 _'How the hell did I get here?!'_

She threw the door open and bolted out of the room and down the hall, dead set on finding the exit to this strange place. She didn't even bother to check for other chakra signatures to see if the route she was taking was safe to go. She just felt as if she needed to run, and run as fast as she could.

 _'Why am I here?!'_

She ran as fast as she could down the hallway, tears streaming down her face and onto her shirt. She paid to attention to the moisture soaking into her shirt as she continued to run. Her adrenaline induced state wouldn't allow her to take in her surroundings. Every instinct in her isolated mind told her to do one thing and one thing only. Run. And she had to intention of stopping. Her mind went blank as she ran, not even realizing that she was being followed down the hallway.

Sakura took a left down another hallway and saw a door straight ahead, she put on a burst of speed and raced towards the door at breakneck speed. Just before she reached out to grab the handle she felt two strong arms wrap around her torso, effectively pinning her arms to her sides. She trashed around wildly, crying hysterically as she tried to free herself.

"Sakura! Calm down! It's me, Hidan. Jashin damn it, calm down!", Hidan shouted before tightening his grip of the girl in his arms. He had woken him out of a dead sleep when she had screamed. Though he had no inkling of an idea as to why she was screaming, he had a feeling that whatever she was screaming about, it was probably the reason that she was with them now. When Sakura ceased her thrashing, he looked down at the broken woman in his arms, not knowing what to do to soothe her raging emotions.

Sakura gave up on her attempts at freeing herself from her captures embrace, she knew that she just didn't have the raw strength to free herself. She was fully aware of the fact that at that very moment in time that her chakra was too unstable to use as well. She felt completely helpless. She did the only thing she could at that moment, and that was cry. She just stood there wrapped in the embrace of the figure that had caught her trying to flee and cried out all of her sorrows. She couldn't hear anything but the sounds of her own weeping, she didn't even hear her captures voice when they spoke to her.

Hidan was at a loss as to what to do about the woman in his arms, not knowing what else to do, he decided that it would probably be best to bring her to the Puppet Fucker. Hopefully the puppet master would know what to do. The former Hot Water nin wasn't an emotional man, he didn't know what to do in times like this. He could easily take out the people who caused her sorrows, but he had no idea how to heal the cracks that adorned her heart. Decision made, he scooped the woman up just as he had the night before and made his way back towards Sasori's room.

Sakura didn't even try to struggle in his grip.

* * *

Sasori looked towards the clock on his wall, noticing that it was terribly early for someone to be bothering him. When the knocking got louder and more urgent, the puppet master let out a sigh and got up from his desk, setting down his wood carving tools as he stood. He took long strides towards his door, fully intending on ripping into whomever thought it was a good idea to bother him at such an early hour. When he reached his door, he wrenched it open harshly, a deadly glare set on his face. His glare immediately dropped when he saw that it was Hidan with a hysterical Sakura crying in his arms. He quickly opened his door wider, gesturing for Hidan to bring her in and set her on his bed.

"What happened?", the puppet master asked in an eerily calm manner.

"I have no idea, I just heard her fucking scream and saw her take off down the hallway. How did you not hear that shit, Puppet Fucker? It woke me out of a dead sleep.", Hidan explained, eye twitching slightly. Somehow he knew that Sasori suspected him to possibly be the one that had put the girl in such a state.

"My walls are soundproof due to the things I do in here with my puppets, you know that. Have you been able to get her to say anything to you?", the red head asked, nodding towards the now trembling woman curled up on top of his blankets.

"Not a damn word out of her, I don't think she realized where she was and freaked out.", Hidan replied, shaking his head,"Nothing I was doing was calming her down so I brought her here. Figured you'd be able to calm her down."

Sasori sighed, this was truly troublesome. He had gotten the girl to calm down somewhat the night before but it seemed they were back to square one. He had a feeling that it was probably too soon to leave her all alone in her room, but where else was he supposed to put her? Surely she wouldn't have wanted to stay in one of the other men's rooms at the base with them. So far it seemed that he was the only one she trusted thus far. He had to quickly remind himself that she had not been at the base a full twenty four hours yet. She was still getting used to the idea of truly being a missing nin and having a new place that she could consider her home. He didn't know her story in full, but he had a feeling that there was a truly horrible reason for her to abandon her home village.

"Go back to bed, Hidan. I will see what I can do for her and try to get her to go back to bed.", Sasori sighed, nodding his head again at the girl.

Hidan gave the pink haired woman one last lingering look before turning towards the door to the puppet masters room and took his leave.

Sasori watched the Jashinist leave his room and once the door clicked shut her turned and faced the girl on his bed. She truly did look pitiful all curled up on his bed, she truly was a trembling mess. He quietly made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge next to her. He slowly raised his hand and gently stroked her sweaty pink tresses, she whimpered at the contact but made no move to inch herself away from his touch. Either she knew it was him or she had just given up, he decided.

"Sakura, can you hear me?", Sasori whispered.

Sakura made to move indicating that she had heard him.

 _'Why can't they just kill me already and set me free?_

"Sakura, answer me. Are you alright?"

 _"I'm worthless, I don't deserve to continue living. Just kill me...'_

"Sakura, tell me what's wrong"

 _'Please...just set me free'_

Sasori sighed, she just wasn't hearing him. He lifted his other arm and gently tried to pry her arm away from her face. She flinched at the contact, but again made no move to try to stop him from doing anything to her. From what he could tell, she really had no preference as to what happened to her next. It seemed to him that she had well and truly given up and didn't care what happened to her. He couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart at the sight of the utterly broken woman laying next to him. He pried her other arm away from her torso and removed the hand on her head. He gently moved so he was sitting in front of her and slowly started to lift the limp woman into a sitting position.

 _'Just kill me, I beg of you. Take away this pain.'_

Once Sakura was sitting up, though she was limp and had to be held up in Sasori's arms, he looked into her eyes. The first thing that he noticed was that her eyes had lost their vibrant color and had been replaced with a dull, dead expressionless void. The pang in his heart made itself known once again, he truly adored the color of her jade colored eyes, to see them look so dead was nothing short of depressing for the puppet master. He raised one of the hands holding Sakura up and placed in gently on her cheek, turning her face so she could see his face more clearly, a flash of recognition passed through her eyes before she blinked slowly.

"Can you hear me, doll face?", Sasori asked quietly.

Sakura took in the face of the man in front of her and blinked slowly.

 _'Sasori? What is he doing here?'_

"Doll, I need you to answer me.", he quietly commanded.

"I..I hear you...", the girl answered quietly, her voice barely a whisper.

"I need you to tell me what happened and why you tried to run."

"I..I don't know. Why am I here, Sasori?"

"Hidan heard you scream and saw you running down the halls in a panic. You tried to flee the base but he was able to catch you before you left and possibly got yourself hurt. Why did you run, Sakura?", he asked quietly, bringing the girl towards him until her forehead rested on his shoulder.

"I thought I was in hell. I didn't know where I was or why I was there. All I saw was darkness and the nightmares that seem to follow me where ever I go. I can't take it anymore.", Sakura mumbled into his shoulders, her eyes welling up with tears once again. She didn't want to cry anymore, she didn't want to feel this pain anymore. She wished she could just be devoid of all emotions and become completely numb. She knew such a wish could not become reality, she was an emotional person and she din't think there was any changing that, no matter how much she wished it to be so.

"Do you remember anything from yesterday, doll?", the puppet master asked, he had no idea what was going on in her mind but if it made her this upset, he wasn't really sure he wanted to know. But then again, he had silently vowed to himself that he was going to try to repair the cracks in her soul.

"We met in a forest, you asked me to come with you, I accepted, you brought me to the base, I met with Leader, you gave me a tour, and we went to the training grounds where I met Hidan, Kakazu, and reunited with Itachi, everything after that is a blur.", she replied, she couldn't help but wonder why he was asking her these things.

"You don't remember being carried back to your bedroom by Hidan at all?"

"It's all a blur, why? Am I forgetting something important?", she asked quietly, her voice quivering slightly.

"No, I was just curious. Are you alright now? Would you like to go back to sleep now?"

"Can I...can I stay in here? I don't really want to be alone..."

"I kind of figured you would ask me that. Yes, you may sleep in my bed while I work. I will not leave this room until you have woken up. Once you have rested, we will go get your cloak tailored and get some breakfast in you. It's still quite early.", Sasori sighed.

"Thank you...", Sakura said quietly before lifting her head from his shoulder.

Once Sakura removed herself from his shoulder, Sasori lifted himself off of the bed and made his way back over towards his desk. He sat back down and picked up his tools to continue working on the puppet he had been working on before Hidan had come to his door. He heard the sounds of Sakura getting comfortable in his bed and glanced back at her. She had curled up into a tight little ball completely covered by his blankets, he could see a few stray pink hairs sticking out from underneath the blanket, but other than that, she had completely covered herself. He couldn't help but think that she was trying to shield herself from her demons. Even though she could not see him, he gave a small smile in her direction before turning back around and continuing with his project.

* * *

When Hidan returned to his room he knew that going back to sleep was not an option, not after the scene that had just unfolded before him. Never before had the immortal seen someone look so hopeless in all his years. He'd never even seen such a level of despair in the eyes of those he had sacrificed to his God in the name of his religion. After all his years as a Jashinist he thought he had seen it all.

 _'Clearly you were wrong, jackass, you didn't even know what to do with the girl. You couldn't help her, just like you could never help anybody else.'_ , he mentally berated himself.

With a sigh, he leaned his back against the headboard of his bed, deciding that if he wasn't able to return to his slumber, he might as well meditate and pray.

* * *

When Deidara entered the base the first thing he noticed was that it was eerily silent, almost to the point of it being deafening. The base was always bustling with movement and some sort of argument going on. But there was nothing, you could hear a pin drop in this silence. He knew that if anybody would be awake in the base, it would be his red haired partner. He knew that Sasori would be here, along with Itachi and the Zombie Twins, so why the place was so quite was beyond him. The Zombie Twins were almost arguing, so for it to be so quite was nothing short of creepy. With a sigh he made his way through the bases hallways towards the Puppet Masters room, he figured he could at least get the former Suna nin to grunt at him or something. Grunting would be better than the silence that seemed to engulf the base.

When he reached the door to his partners room, the first thing he noticed was that there was another chakra signature in his room, one he didn't recognize. He didn't sense any danger so thought nothing of it, he shrugged it off and raised his hand to knock on Sasori's door. He heard a muffled noise telling him to enter, he was half tempted to just kick the door down just to piss off his uptight partner but quickly decided against it. The last time he announced himself in such a manner he had ended up strapped to a tree and used as target practice. He still felt the pain in his kidney from a stray kunai that had been thrown with a little too much force from Itachi. The smug little bastard hadn't even looked remotely remorseful. He shook his head at the memory and opened the door in front of him like the somewhat decent human being he was.

"Oh, I see you've returned from your mission, brat.", Sasori grumbled, not even looking up from his project. Sakura had been asleep for hours, he knew he should wake her up but he didn't want to stop working just yet. He'd just let her sleep a little longer, as long as his loud mouthed partner didn't start yelling about him about his 'pathetic' form of art. Though they made an exceptionally great team, their forms of art and opinions on art would never change. He had lost count of how many times they had argued about what counted as true art over the years.

"Just got back, yeah. So why is there another chakra signature in here? Your latest puppet not quite dead yet?", Deidara scowled.

"You truly are a moron, the chakra signature is coming from my bed.", Sasori retorted, he had to resist the sudden urge to beat some common sense into his dense partner. Though Deidara was labeled as the Mad Bomber of the Akatsuki, he was nothing more that a child at heart. Yes, the blond ninja got quite carried away in fights when it came to his explosions, but he was nothing more that a twenty year old overgrown man child. Something that Sasori only felt it was necessary to remind him of every chance he got.

"Oh ho ho, got a lady in your bed finally, yeah? Or maybe you've found that you like riding the anal pain train?", Deidara snickered, turning his head to look at the bed. He saw a lump completely covered by the blankets on his partners bed and couldn't help but smirk. He turned his head back to the Puppet Master and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Again, you're an idiot. That is our new medic, Sakura. Why she is in here is none of your concern, brat. And did you just insinuate that I was a homosexual?", Sasori responded in an eerily calm manner.

Deidara shuddered at the calmness in the mans voice, that was never a good sign. He knew all too well that if you made any sort of teasing remark towards the red head, you were more likely than not, doomed to a world of pain. But he just couldn't help himself! Since Sasori had returned to his human body, he hadn't even seen the man look in another persons direction. Well, at least not in a sexual kind of way. Now that he thought about it, thinking of Sasori making the beast with two back was quite the disturbing mental image. He suddenly felt the need to bathe. And to scrub. Until his skin started to peel off.

"Hey, hey, calm down, yeah. I was kidding. Wait, medic? And it's a woman?", Deidara asked, hoping that the subject change would distract his partner from thoughts of rearranging his insides.

"Yes, Sakura is generally a female name. She's sleeping so try not to disturb her.", Sasori sighed,"She had a very traumatic morning and she needs to rest."

"Wow Sasori, you really seem to care about this girl. Just one peek, I wanna see what she looks like.", Deidara said, waving off his partners warnings to stay away from her and leave her be.

Deidara took long strides over towards the spot where the new medic was snoozing away in his partners bed. He quickly pulled away the blankets and was greeted with the terrified face of the woman who had destroyed his partners puppet body all those years ago.

"YOU!", the blond yelled, not even noticing when the pink haired woman flinched at the sound of his raised voice.

Sakura didn't know what to do, she felt as though her body was glued to the spot she was in. Her limbs felt like iron, she had woken up the minute this man had walked into the room. She hoped that if she had continued to feign sleep that he wouldn't bother her. After her episode earlier that morning, she wasn't sure she was ready to face the member of the Akatsuki that probably held a strong grudge against her for technically killing his partner five years ago. She willed her body to move but she still found that she couldn't. He chakra fluctuated frantically, she felt as though she had no control over any part of her body, not even her chakra would listen to her. She felt her eyes well up with tears, she felt her head lower as her tears fell and ran down her face in small rivers.

"Sasori, what the hell is the bitch that killed you doing in your bed, yeah! Why didn't you kill her instead of letting her not only sleep here but allow her to be in the base, un! I should just kill her myself and get her out of the way, un! She doesn't even look like she cares if she lives or dies so why don't I grant her eternal beauty, yeah?", Deidara exclaimed at his partner, turning his head back towards Sakura to grin sadistically at her. He didn't miss the way she flinched when he mentioned Sasori and himself killing her.

"Brat, if you harm her in any way, I will personally flay you alive. She is now a member of the Akatsuki, she defected from her village half a year ago, and now you have scarred your new comrade even more than she already was. If you can not behave like a civilized human being, you will have to leave.", Sasori sneered, replacing his tools on his desk and making his way over towards the bed to draw Sakura into his arms just as he had done earlier that morning.

"What do you mean she's our newest member, yeah?! She killed you!", Deidara all but shouted, he didn't what the hell was going on and he didn't like it. He shot another glare at the woman that was trying to make herself as small as possible in his partners arms.

"Yes, she did kill me. But I am among the living once more. At that point in time we were her enemies, and she ours. That is no longer the case.", the Puppet Master retorted. He felt the pink haired medic shudder in his arms and gave her a comforting squeeze. He was still trying to figure out why it was that this woman seemed to trust him more than anybody. He figured she would be the most terrified of him, considering she had killed him. But it seemed that that was not the case at all.

"Fine, but I still don't like it. But I suppose if I'm going to have to work with her, I guess I should probably get her to not be terrified of me, yeah. How do I make her not scared of me, yeah?", Deidara sighed, he trusted his partner completely. If the red head said that the woman was their comrade and the newest member on the organization, he would go with it. But it seemed that him blowing up at the terrified woman had done nothing short of scar her completely. The way she looked now, he may as well have beaten her to a bloody pulp.

"First off, do not raise your voice to her. I do not know her story in its entirety but I know that there is more going on in her mind that we could possibly imagine. Secondly, just talk to her. Tell her about yourself. Let her make the first move when it comes to contact. For whatever reason, she seems to trust me unconditionally. I do not know why, so do not ask. I couldn't tell you. Sakura, I am going to let you go now and Deidara is going to talk to you, alright? He will not harm you and I will not leave this room until you are comfortable enough for me to do such, just as I told you earlier.", Sasori explained to the blond and pinkette. Deidara nodded his understanding and when he felt Sakura nod against his chest, he released the still trembling woman. Her tears had stopped and that gave the red head some semblance of gratitude. Something about watching rivets of tears flow down her face made his gut wrench. Why that was, he wasn't sure he knew that answer of such a question. Sasori rose off of his bed once again and made his way back to his desk, his head turned slightly so he could watch the two closely.

Deidara didn't know what to do right away, he looked down at the woman on the bed and really took the time to look at her. Now that he was really looking at her, he couldn't help but see just how broken and dejected this woman looked. And he was part of the reason she was like this, he mentally slapped himself for jumping to such rash conclusions.

"May I sit next to you, Sakura-chan?", he asked softly, giving her a shy smile. He really hoped this worked, of Sasori really would flay him. Or he'd get Kisame's fishy ass to do it.

Sakura looked up at the blond and nodded. Sasori trusted this man, so she would try to trust him too.

 _'Did he just call me 'chan'? Why would be refer to me in such a manner? I thought he hated me and wanted to kill me?'_

Deidara let out a sigh of relief and sat down calmly next to Sakura. Now that he was closer to her, he noticed something else and it disturbed him greatly. The blazing determination that once burned in her eyes was gone. It was the one thing he remembered most about that battle five years prior. Before he had led the Kyubi and the Copy Nin away from the cave he had caught a glimpse of the burning passion and determination blazing in her emerald orbs. And it was gone now.

 _'Just what happened to you, Cherry Blossom?'_

"Say Sakura-chan, can I ask you a question, hm?", Deidara asked softly.

Sakura nodded her head slowly, raising her head to look the blond in the eyes.

"Just what happened to you that caused you to defect from your village, yeah?"

Sakura stiffened,"You really want to know?", she asked softly, she quickly noticed that Sasori had paused his work and had turned around fully to listen as well.

"I think I speak for both of us when I say we want to know what happened, yeah.", Deidara replied, looking back at Sasori who nodded.

She let out a deep, saddened sigh. And then she told them everything that had happened leading up to her defection and just what had happened in those six months before Sasori had found her.

* * *

 **Boom, kind of a cliffhanger. Sakura's story will be revealed to Dei and Sasori in the next chapter!**

 **If you enjoyed, please leave a review, follow, and favorite.**

 **In response to a couple of reviews that I received;**

 **Akatianne: Your wish is my command, have another chapter, darling.**

 **Shadowfire01: I have not decided who I am going to pair up Sakura with, I am actually contemplating letting the readers decide who she ends up with.**

 **Sunny ver 2.0: I don't even know where I got Puppet Fucker from but it totally fits lol.**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Pity Party

**Honestly, couldn't contain myself. I've been thinking about this chapter since I posted the last one, literally yesterday, might I add... I couldn't help but sit my little ass down and write this chapter. Hope you enjoy some insight on just what has happened to out dear Sakura. Please leave a review, favorite, and follow if you enjoyed.**

 **I do not own Naruto or its characters, just the plot to this story.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper.**

* * *

 _Previously on Heartbroken.._

 _"Say Sakura-chan, can I ask you a question, hm?", Deidara asked softly._

 _Sakura nodded her head slowly, raising her head to look the blond in the eyes._

 _"Just what happened to you that caused you to defect from your village, yeah?"_

 _Sakura stiffened,"You really want to know?", she asked softly, she quickly noticed that Sasori had paused his work and had turned around fully to listen as well._

 _"I think I speak for both of us when I say we want to know what happened, yeah.", Deidara replied, looking back at Sasori who nodded._

 _She let out a deep, saddened sigh. And then she told them everything that had happened leading up to her defection and just what had happened in those six months before Sasori had found her._

* * *

 _"_ I suppose it all started about three years ago. We had just gotten Sasuke back and honestly I can't remember a time where I had been so full of overwhelming joy. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Apparently during his time with that snake bastard, Orochimaru, he had done some horrible things that we hadn't known about at the time. I tried not to let that change my opinion of him, I still loved him as my friend, but I wasn't in love with him anymore. I think when I was younger, it was nothing more than a childish crush. I just wanted to be noticed by him. Anyway, about six months after he returned, we were all sent out on a mission, myself, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi. It was just like old times back in our genin days. It was a simple scroll delivery, it was a low ranking D mission at best. While we were on our mission, we were ambushed by some of Orochimaru's old followers. We were outmatched and out maned. It was over before it started. I was being overtaken by a girl I had actually met before, her attacks on me were unrelenting. Sasuke came to my rescue, but ended up taking some strange jutsu right to the chest. He died in the midst of battle, no amount of healing chakra was able to save him.", Sakura started quietly, looking up at the two men in the room through her hair. She was trying her hardest not to cry as she told her story.

It wasn't working, her tears fell before she could stop them.

"What happened to him wasn't your fault, yeah. You did everything you could, I'm sure he died happy knowing that he was able to protect you one last time.", Deidara said softly, running a hand through his blond locks.

"You're right, he did die happy. He smiled at me, a real smile.", Sakura said, a small smile forming through her tears.

"What happened next, doll?", Sasori questioned, still absorbing the information she was giving them.

"After the mission and Sasuke's death, we brought his body back to the village. As far as I know, Itachi is the only living Uchiha left, does he even know his brother died? And that during his funeral he was treated as a hero, not the criminal he was known as...", Sakura asked.

"I don't think Itachi is aware of his brothers passing, you should be the one to tell him. Considering you were there, yeah."

Sakura sighed and nodded before continuing,"About six months later, we lost Neji to a band of rouge ninja that had invaded the village. If memory serves, it was Neji and TenTen facing off against about twenty jounin level missing nin. I heard they fought hard, but Neji was struck when he pushed TenTen away from a fatal attack, choosing to sacrifice his own life to protect hers. I think out of all of the Konoha Twelve, they were the most beautiful couple to come out of it. Before the battle, they were supposed to get married a few weeks after. Clearly that didn't happen. After Neji died, TenTen became an empty shell. Losing the love of her life had sucked her will to live right out of her. About two months after Neji passed, she committed suicide in the exact spot that Neji had died protecting her.", Sakura choked out, she felt like she was reliving every death she had had to experience in the last few years. Her chest burned with the heart wrenching sorrow of losing her friends. Oh what she wouldn't do to just have them back in her life.

"To me, it sounds like this Neji guy truly cared about the girl, yeah. He would have rather his life fade than hers. That's true love, yeah. And it sounds like their love was a true piece of artistic genius, un."

"For once, I agree with the brat. Continue, doll."

"After Neji and TenTen died, Gai-sensi and Lee lost all of their energy, they would no longer yell about the power of youth and they hung up their trademarked green jumpsuits for good. The joy that was a constant in their eyes faded away the day they got the news that both of their team mates had joined each other in the next life. They were happy that they were together again, don't get me wrong, but it killed them inside to know that it could be years before all of them are reunited once again. Lee even gave up his attempts at trying to get me to date him. I never thought that his team mates dying would be the thing that got him off of my back. I miss them all so much but I can't go back.", Sakura choked out with a sob. She felt a pressure on her head and opened her eyes to find that Deidara was petting her hair and that Sasori had risen from his desk to do the same. It was oddly comforting. She could tell that they were at a loss for words and didn't know how else to tell her that they were still here and willing to listen. She drew in a deep breath before continuing.

"For awhile, everything was peaceful and I thought maybe I was done losing my friends left and right. Oh how wrong I was, about a year later, my best friend from childhood, Ino, died from a massive heart attack. Nobody had seen that coming, she had always taken amazing care of herself and had no history of any sort of heart problems, or any medical problems for that matter. I think my heart just about stopped when I received the news that Ino had died. You actually kind of remind me of her Deidara, you have the same colored eyes and wear your hair the same way..", Sakura sighed, smiling softly when the blond grumbled about being compared to a woman.

Sakura shook her head and continued,"Sai was crushed, he had finally come to recognize the emotions that had been sealed dormant within the confines of his psyche and one of the first emotions he got to experience was the feeling of loss and sorrow. He and Ino had finally became a couple and he had lost her just as quickly as he had gotten her. Nobody could console him. It was one thing for him to grow up in ROOT and then have to be completely rehabilitated as an adult once he had been freed from all that. The minute she was announced dead and he experienced such harsh emotion, he shut back down. From what I know, he's reverted back to how he was before he left ROOT. He doesn't even show that clearly fake smile of his anymore. He became nothing more than the shell of the man he used to be, could have been."

"Sai was the artsy painter, right, yeah?"

"Yeah, that was him. He used special ink and brought his drawings to life with jutsu."

"Interesting indeed, continue.", Sasori urged, his and the blonds hands still shifting through her slightly tangled hair.

She knew that the Puppet Master wasn't trying to push her into telling them what they wanted to know. She knew he was urging her to continue before she lost the courage to continue her story. She nodded her head once and started again.

"You probably remember this next part, it was when Leader leveled my village. My friends, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru were crushed under the rubble when our Academy once stood. They were trying to get all of the children out of the building and they didn't make it out in time after they had ensured that all of the kids were out. They died protecting their home and I know they died proud of the things they had done. After they died, I couldn't even bring myself to leave my apartment. The constant reminder of that had happened in the village and the people I had lost seemed to haunt my very soul. After they died, I think that's when I truly lost all of the flaming resolve people seem to remember me by. I became totally devoid of all emotion and just stopped caring about my well being all together.", Sakura sighed, deep down, she knew that talking about this and letting it all really was making her feel better. She felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. It didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell to talk about, but she knew it would make her feel better in the end.

"So Leader is the one who truly caused the change in your personality?", Sasori asked, truly curious.

"No, I don't blame Leader at all. At the time, we were enemies. He was just fighting against his enemy, nothing more. It wasn't like he was purposely making sure to damage my emotional and mental state. Sure, when back then I wanted nothing more than to cave in his skull, but I don't feel like that anymore.", Sakura explained, shaking her head slightly. She truly did not hold the deaths of her friends against anybody. They were shinobi, they lived dangerous died and usually died young. It was the life they lived. She was proud to call those she had lost her family, though a very strange family. But they were hers. She treasured the memories she had made with everybody she had lost, but she knew that it wasn't just their deaths that haunted her soul.

"You truly are one of a kind, Sakura-chan.", Deidara said softly. If she could forgive Leader and not hold the things that he had done against her friends and village, maybe she could forgive him as well. Though he had never done anything personally to her, aside from blow up at her earlier, he knew she probably held the capture and technical death of Gaara against him in some way.

"I've heard that before. I've heard that I tend to be too nice and too forgiving. But when it comes down to it, I know we are all just human beings doing what we are told to do. Thus is the job of a ninja, it is how we were raised and trained. Just like I don't hold what happened with Gaara against you, you were just following your orders. Granted I still wanted to rip off your legs and feed them to you. But just like with Leader, I don't feel the need to do that anymore."

"Why my legs, yeah?", Deidara asked curiously.

"So you couldn't run away or attempt to flee, considering I kind of wanted to take a page out of Sasori's book and try my hand at making you into a human puppet.", Sakura shrugged.

"The fuck is wrong with you, yeah!", Deidara shrieked, reeling back slightly. She was just joking, right?

"Just kidding, I was just going to flay you alive. But as I stated, I no longer feel that way."

"If it isn't too much to ask, would you consider flaying him on my behalf? I think it would be much more enjoyable if I got to watch you do it.", Sasori asked seriously.

"The hell, man! I thought we were friends!", Deidara growled. He was about to throw a punch at his partner when he heard a soft giggle in front of him and whipped around to find Sakura not only smiling at them, but softly laughing. He couldn't help the goofy grin that found its way onto his face at the sight. So she could show emotions after all. He quickly decided that he rather liked it when she smiled and vowed to make sure to make her smile as often as he could. Little did he know that his red haired partner was silently making the same vow.

"Would you like me to continue or would you like to call it good for now?", Sakura asked. If they wanted her to finish, then she would.

"I think it would be best if you told us the rest of your story.", Sasori nodded,"Better to have to only tell us this story once than break it into pieces. It would probably be better to get it all out of the way right away, rather than wait."

"I agree with Sasori but it makes me want to gag to do so, yeah. Unfortunately the crabby ass fuck has a point. But we won't stop you if you wanna stop for now, yeah."

"I think you're right, it would probably be best to just finish what I started. Now, where was I?"

"Leader leveled the village, yeah.", Deidara supplied, shifting his legs so he was sitting cross legged next to the medic. Sasori sat in a similar position on her other side.

"Right, well, after all of that shit was all good and done, I rarely left my home. I only came out when I was summoned to the Hokage's office for a mission. I stopped showing up for my shifts at the hospital so I would face people even less. Every time I was summoned I would show up, receive my mission, and leave. My mind was so clouded with grieve and my own self pity that I was constantly failing my missions. Simple delivery missions would go wrong and I would lose the scroll or make it to my destination. It didn't matter what kind of mission it was, I always failed because I couldn't break out of the pity party I had permanently invited myself to. Finally I decided I had had enough when the last mission I went on was a bust and it costed someone their lives because I was too caught up in myself to help them. I was ambushed on my way to heal a woman in a neighboring village and took a poisoned senbon to the neck. I couldn't even use my chakra to filter out the poison. I ended up passing out and didn't make it in time to help the woman. She died while I was passed out in the forest.", Sakura sighed but she wasn't finished yet.

"After that, I decided that if I wanted to truly deal with my inner demons, I needed to get the hell out of my village. So shortly after I returned from that mission, I went and spoke with Tsunade. I told her how I felt and she reluctantly let me leave. I didn't say goodbye to anybody but her. Instead, I left note for Naruto, knowing that he would be the one to notice I was gone first. I'm sure he was crushed when he found the note. But by the time he found it, I was probably long gone.", Sakura went on. The more she spoke about this, she noticed, the easier it was to say. She shifted slightly, accidentally brushing her knees against the thighs of the men on either side of her. She shot them both an apologetic look, to which both shrugged. They just urged her to continue, so she did.

"After I left my village, I wandered around for quite some time. Just traveling from place to place, trying to find something that made me feel complete. I did odd jobs in the villages I visited for money and places to rest my head for the night. I suppose it wasn't too bad until about two months into my defection. That must have been when word had really spread about my defection and wanted to take the bounty on my head for themselves. It was like I was becoming nothing but a mouse in a game of chase. I felt cornered and became quite paranoid all the time. It got to the point where I couldn't sleep or eat. I knew that when I left my village that I would be hunted. It was unavoidable. I could take the fighting, that wasn't the problem. It was the fact that some of the hunters had different plans for me..", Sakura trailed off, her body tensing as if a particularly horrible memory had reared their ugly heads.

"What kind of plans, Sakura-chan?", Deidara growled lowly. Did he have an idea on what she was hinting at? Yes, yes he did. He may have been a criminal, but there were just some lines you didn't cross. No matter how evil you were.

"I guess some villages thought that using the former apprentice for the Godame Hokage would make some profitable child soliders.", Sakura spat.

"They never got a hold of you, correct.", Sasori sneered, just the thought of somebody taking advantage of the medic beside him made his blood boil with untameable rage.

"I wouldn't say that", she laughed sardonically,"One group from Mist got me once, too bad they didn't realize that, since I'm a medic, I can make myself as barren as the deserts of Suna."

"You do realize that now that we know such information we are likely to seek these retched people out and bring them to slaughter, yeah.", Deidara said darkly.

"Be my guest. Pretty sure I'll be celibate for the rest of my life thanks to them", Sakura sneered slightly. She didn't know why she divulged such information to them, but at the same time, she didn't want to leave any details out of her story.

"Is there anything else we should be aware of?", Sasori asked, fighting the urge to lock the woman next to him away from anything that could harm her in the future.

"That's about it, I think. I isolated myself from everybody after that. I didn't talk much, if at all, after I defected. I saw no reason to speak to people but somehow I find it quite easy to speak to the two of you. You have my gratitude for allowing me to tell you my story.", she said kindly.

 _'Holy mood swing, woman. I think I just gave myself emotional whiplash. First you're a terrified puddle, next you're divulging the rape you endured during your little trip through the wilderness, and now you're happy as hell. Holy shit, my ass needs therapy. And food, I seriously need some food.',_ Sakura thought, laughing silently at her choice of words.

"We should be thanking you for telling us, yeah. And I'm sorry for snapping at you early, just caught me off guard. I didn't expect to see you of all people.",Deidara laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck slightly.

"Believe me when I say, you will never experience such atrocities ever again", Sasori grunted.

Sakura was about to thank them when her stomach decided to interrupt and announce her need for food. She giggled sheepishly at the wide eyed stares she received from the two men.

"Looks like I'm hungry, I don't even remember the last time I ate. I think I'll leave you two to talk, I'm going to go make myself some breakfast.", Sakura said before lifting herself off of Sasori's bed and made her way towards the door.

"You're sure you're alright, yeah?", Deidara asked.

"I'll be fine, for whatever reason, talking about it with the two of you made me feel a whole lot better. I actually feel a lot more like my old self. And I have you two to thank for that.", Sakura answered, turning her head to smile at the two before exiting the room and heading towards the kitchen. The fridge was currently calling her name.

"You've got the same thoughts as me, don't you, yeah", Deidara asked, turning his head to eye his partner.

"I do believe we will be taking a trip to Mist once the girl is asleep tonight."

"Sounds good to me, yeah", the blond chuckled darkly. He could already hear the screams and cries for mercy. Tonight he would shower the Mist with the blood of those who had dared hurt the Akatsuki's new family member. They would rue the days they were born, a sadistic smile found its way onto the Deidara's mouth at the thought of artistic carnage.

Anybody who dared harm a hair on that pink haired woman's head would pay for their sins with their lives. The Artistic Duo would make damn sure of that. Never again did they want to see their Cherry Blossom cry again.

* * *

 **Like I said, I couldn't contain myself. I had to write this chapter. I'm a bit disappointed in it but I've been up since five in the morning and I'm running on empty here. And it's only one in the afternoon. I truly am pathetic haha. Anyways, if you enjoyed, please leave a review, favorite, and follow!**

 **Also!**

 **Who would you like to see Sakura end up with in this story. I've decided that I am going to let the readers choose who she finds love in.**

 **Leave a review and let me know who should break her pink ass out of celibacy and give her some lovin'!**

 **That sounded incredibly creepy. I'm just going to stop here before I truly embarrass myself.**

 **Until Next Time!,**

 **An Incredibly Tired Casper. (Insert a sleepy emoji here) :P**


	6. Broken Pieces

**Alright, so some good news I suppose, I not only have this chapter done, obviously...But I also have the next one written as well.**

 **This chapter just kind of works a filler with our pals back in the Leaf. Figured we should maybe check in on our buddy Naruto, I think I left him in a forest like three chapters ago haha. Don't kill me, fox boy, I didn't forget about you!**

 **Anyways!**

 **I do not own Naruto or its characters, just the plot to this story.**

 **If you enjoyed, please drop a review, favorite, and follow on this story. You'd make my day, seriously.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper.**

* * *

Naruto made his way into the forests that surrounded the outskirts of the village, he honestly didn't know where to start looking for his pink haired team mate. He knew deep down that she would never willingly leave the village, or abandon him for that matter. He wondered to himself if she thought about him often, or if she missed him. He let himself get lost in his thoughts as he jumped from tree to tree, making sure to keep his senses hyper aware so he wouldn't miss her if he managed to find her. It had been six months since she had left him that note and left the village. To him, her biggest betrayal was leaving without saying goodbye. He would have done anything and everything in his power to make her feel better. He thought he had been helping her, but apparently he had been sorely mistaken. It was hard enough losing Sasuke and the others, but losing Sakura and not knowing whether she was alive or dead haunted his very dreams.

The note she had left in her apartment for him to find would be forever burned into his memory, he wasn't sure he had ever felt a pain such as that. Knowing that at the time there had been nothing he could do for her. She hadn't let him try to convince her to stay. She thought that leaving him a note would be good enough. The more and more he thought about it, Naruto began to feel angry with his former team mate. Almost a decades worth of working together, and she had easily thrown it away.

He decided that if he found her, he wouldn't give her a choice. He would force her to come home. Even if he had to beat the crap out of her and figure out a way to make sure she couldn't access her chakra.

He sighed softly to himself and stopped in his tracks on the tree he had landed on. The forest had grown quiet, it was unusual for the wood around the village to be this quite as this time of day. It was only early evening and not even the chirping of birds could be heard. It seemed that when the village had been leveled and destroyed, it wasn't just the village that lost its liveliness. Even the animals that called these woods their homes had lost their connection to this place. Thinking about it carefully, he supposed he could understand where the pink haired medic was coming from. But it didn't make him feel any better. She had abandoned him and their village. Such things couldn't be easily forgiven. He never thought that she would even consider doing such a thing, not after the things she had witnessed after Sasuke had pulled the same stunt when they were young.

"Sakura, why did you leave? We could have figured something out. You didn't have to leave. I needed you and you left, just like Sasuke did. You promised me you would never even let those kinds of thoughts cross your mind. Not only did you lie to me, you betrayed my trust. You betrayed our village. And most of all, you destroyed our team. I hope you are happy with yourself, if you're even still alive. Who's going to protect you from what goes bump in the night now that you're all alone?", he spat at the sky.

He knew that there was no way that the woman could hear him, he didn't even know where she was or if she still had a pulse. He gave the sky above him one more sour look before he turned his back to the forest and back towards the direction of the village. Sakura may have been able to abandon their home, but there was no way the he would do the same. If she wanted to become the enemy of the village, then he would protect the village from her if she were to ever return. Part of him hoped that she would, but another part of him was too bitter to care.

Without another thought, Naruto made his way towards the trees once more, fully intent on getting himself some ramen and a bottle of sake.

 _'For your sake, Sakura, I kind of hope you're dead. I don't think you'd want to face the wrath of those you abandoned if you decided to turn up again.'_

* * *

When Naruto returned to the village, he sighed sadly at the sight before him. Six months after having their home destroyed, there was still a lot of rebuilding that needed to be done. He had helped as much as he could with the rebuild. But he had been needed on missions more than anything to gather the funds that would be needed to obtain the materials they would need. Granted the Hidden Sand had lent them a hand in rebuilding their home, there was only so much Gaara could do for them. He had his own village to provide for but they were thankful for whatever help he was able to provide.

The blond slowly made his way down the streets of his home, taking in what little sights there were as he walked towards his favorite ramen shop. He let a sad smile cross his lips when he waved the curtain to the stand away before ducking underneath and taking his usual spot. He ordered his usual and a bottle of the strongest sake that they could provide. If his own thoughts of Sakura's defection were going to haunt him, he may as well get drunk and try to not think about it. He knew it was way out of character for him to attempt to squash down his thoughts and emotions with booze but he was to the point where he didn't care anymore.

 _'I said it once to the sky, Sakura, and now I'll make sure that one day I say it to you. I hope you are happy with the betrayals that you have committed. One day, you too, will pay for your sins.'_

His thoughts blurred the minute the alcohol touched his tongue.

* * *

 **I know it's short, but as I stated above, this is just a bit of a filler. Just to see what's going to in our usually bubbly blond haired friends head. I'm completely aware that he is totally OOC in this but how else do you think he would react? His best friend is dead and his other team mate abandoned him! I know in most fanfictions where Sakura defects that he tries to continue to believe in her, but logically I think he would be more angry about her betrayal than anything. Especially after the bullshit he had to go through with Sasuke.**

 **Anyways, those are just my thoughts.**

 **As always, leave a review, favorite, and follow if you enjoyed.**

 **Maybe I'll even consider posting the next chapter tomorrow if I'm feeling particularly generous.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Run Devil Run

**I've had a bit of a writing bug as of late, so I've been working extra hard on getting ahead on the chapters for this story since it seems that people are enjoying this one the most out of all my stories. Which, by the way, I am truly grateful for. Considering this story was originally supposed to be a one-shot.**

 **Also! I am happy to report that I am already about 2,000 words into the next chapter as well. I'm on a roll here haha!**

 **Anyways!**

 **Special thank you to Akatianne who has commented on most of the chapters so far. I'm loving the fact that you are enjoying my story so much. Much love to you, my dear.**

 **Anyways, let's get this show on the road, shall we?**

 **I do not own Naruto or its characters, and sadly I never will. The smut would be worthy of an anime style nose bleed. Anyway, I just own the plot to this story. Please leave a review, favorite, and follow if you enjoyed.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper.**

* * *

When Sakura entered the kitchen, she had one thought in her mind. Food. She needed it and she needed it now. For whatever reason, her two weeks without a decent meal had not made itself known until the end of her chat with the Artistic Duo. She felt as if a crippling weight had been lifted off of her shoulder, which she would always be grateful for. She still felt the loss and sorrow of losing her friends, but it was no longer making her wish that could leave this life and enter the next. She decided that it was a good feeling and hoped that someday she would be back to her normally peppy and happy self.

Sakura made her way towards the pantry to see what there was to even cook in this place. She doubted that any of the men within the organization were very good cooks. She supposed that most of them had defected from their villages at such a young age that they had to make due with whatever cooking skills they had left with, if they had had any to begin with. With that thought it mind, she thought it might be a nice gesture to cook brunch for the entire population of the base. She quickly listed off the names of the people she knew that were at the base at the moment.

 _'Let's see, there's Sasori and Deidara, obviously. I don't think Itachi left for another mission yet, which reminds me, I need to talk to him about his brother when I get the chance. Then there's Kakazu and Hidan; the Zombie Twins. I think that's all of them. And with me that makes...six people to cook for. Easy as hell.',_ she thought with a smirk.

Deciding that steamed rice, miso soup, onigiri, and omelettes sounded good to her. She dug her way through take out boxes and food similar to the sort in the fridge before she found eggs and the other ingredients that she would need. She smirked to herself, she knew these men didn't cook. They'd been surviving off of take out for Kami knows how long. Well, she was just going to have to fix that, now wasn't she. With everything she needed piled neatly on the counter tops she set to work. If she knew anything about men, it was that no matter how hard of sleeper they were, the minute the smell of food made its way to their noses, they'd be swarming the kitchen like a month to a flame. She giggled at the thought of almost half a dozen hardened S-class criminals stampeding towards the kitchen because of the smell of home cooking. Now that would be a sight to see.

Without another thought she got to work on making her new 'family' the best damn meal that they had probably had in Kami knows how long.

* * *

Itachi's nose twitched in his sleep. Sleep. Now there was a concept he thought that he had forgotten about. He had found that over the last several years that his eyes were starting to get worse and worse, and with that, his sleep was suffering for it as well. He groggily opened his eyes and took an experimental whiff of the air. He knew that none of the men currently on the base knew a damn thing about cooking, himself included. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure all of them had burnt water at least once while attempting to cook. He knew that Kisame has for sure managed to explode a simple rice dish once. If anybody was going to explode anything, he would have expected it to be the Mad Bomber. Not his partner. He thought of his partner for a moment, remembering that the former Mist ninja was due back at the base either tomorrow or the day after. His partner was sure in for a surprise when he returned from his solo mission. He smirked at the thought.

When the smells of food that wasn't burning reached his nose once more he decided it was time to investigate. He threw his blankets from his body and began his morning rituals.

About fifteen minutes later, the raven haired man left his room and made his way down the hallways in the direction of the kitchen.

* * *

Hidan turned his head towards his bedroom door with a confused expression. Who the hell was cooking and not managing to make it into a nuclear weapon? None of the men knew how to cook on at the base, he more so than anybody. Except maybe Kakazu. You'd think a man who had lived almost a century would know is way around a kitchen. Clearly that theory was completely wrong. If his partner had any kitchen knowledge, he was either doing a good job at hiding it or he had forgotten it in his old age. At that precise moment, Hidan was grateful that his partner wasn't a mind reader. He was pretty sure if his partner had ever heard him call him old or anything of the sort, the cranky old bastard would probably find a way to kill him off for good.

Hidan gave a small shrug of his shoulders before quickly slipping on a pair of trousers and making his way towards the door to his room. Since the new girls freak out a few hours before, he hadn't heard so much as a squeak since the Puppet Fucker had managed to calm her down. With a sigh, he made his way out into the hallway and headed towards the direction of the kitchen.

 _'I hope whoever is cooking knows that they're going to have a mob of hungry men after their food. Hopefully they knew that'_

* * *

Kakazu sat at the desk in his room counting his money when his senses were assaulted with quite a pleasant aroma. He turned his head towards the door to his room and one thought crossed through his mind.

 _'Who finally figured out how to use a stove?'_

Whoever it was, the elder Zombie Twin decided it was worth checking out. He had to make sure whoever was cooking was well aware that they would be cooking all of their meals from now on. The cost of buying take out to feed at least half a dozen men multiple times a day was starting to effect the organizations bank account. Which wasn't something the old miser was fond of. If forcing whoever was cooking to continue to do it was what he had to do to save them all money, then so be it.

Without another thought, Kakazu replaced his money stash away and made his way out into the hallways in the direction of the kitchen.

* * *

"So tonight once the Blossom is fast asleep you and I will make our way to Mist and make sure they know just how badly they fucked up, yeah.", Deidara said, going over their plan once again. When their pink haired medic had revealed just what had happened to her prior to her being found and recruited by Sasori had struck a cord deep within the both of them. They had both done disgusting things in their lives, but even they had morals. Forcing yourself on anybody was punishable by a torturous death as far as the blond bomber was concerned.

"That is correct. We will swoop in, destroy those who hurt her, and make our way back. We will not inform Sakura of our plans, she would only try to stop us. Or worse, she would want to come with. I assume your opinion is the same on the matter, you don't wish to see her soil her hands with filth such as them", Sasori sighed. After spending the better part of two decades as a puppet, emotions and anything of the sort were still a bit foreign to him. He didn't know what it was about the girl, but she made him feel more than he had before, even before he turned himself into his form of living art. The thought of any part of her being soiled by the true scum of the earth made his blood boil. Tonight would truly be a blood bath worth putting in the books.

"Agreed, yeah.", Deidara nodded.

"Say, brat, do you smell that?", the puppet master asked, raising his eyebrow slightly while sniffing the air.

"Smells good, yeah.",the blond sighed,"Bet you Sakura's cooking."

"Maybe we should go check on her, she may still be a bit unstable.", Sasori pointed out. He knew Sakura had said that she was fine, but both men knew that that was not the case. She was still hurting, she was just doing a better job of hiding her pain. But he could tell that her pain had lessened at that she was slowly coming back to the way that she was when he had met her three years prior.

"You're right, yeah. Let's go.", Deidara nodded, lifting himself off of his partners bed and making his way towards the door. Sasori wasn't far behind. Once the two were in the hallway, they made their way towards the kitchen. Both secretly hoped that Sakura had made enough for everybody. Both men knew that the smell of her cooking was sure to attract the attention of every present member in the base.

* * *

Sakura smirked to herself as she placed the last of the food onto serving plates, as she had predicted, every male at the base was heading towards the kitchen. She felt all of their chakras approaching and felt almost at peace knowing that they were coming to have breakfast with her. She grabbed the last serving plate and made her way around the corner to the dining table and set the dish down. She smiled down at her handiwork. She walked back into the kitchen and grabbed the six stacked glasses off of the counter, along with some freshly squeezed orange juice. When she set the last items down on the table she took her seat and waited for her companions to arrive.

The first person to arrive was Itachi, he looked at her with mild surprise. The Uchiha had almost forgotten that the young girl was their newest member, he felt a tad foolish when he realized he hadn't even figured that she would be the one cooking. He had to admit, the spread in front of him truly looks appealing.

"Well, don't just stand there like a fool. Have a seat Itachi, I made everyone breakfast.", Sakura pipped up with a small smile. Her smile grew when the raven shot her a small smile and took a seat at the table.

"You didn't have to do this you know.", he pointed out.

Sakura shrugged,"I knew once the smell of home cooking made its way through the base that everyone would migrate in here, so I saved myself the trouble of having to fend all of you off by making some for everybody. By the way, could we talk later? There is something I need to discuss with you."

Itachi nodded his head just as the silver haired Zombie Twin entered the dining room. Hidan's eye lit up slightly when he saw the feast that laid before him on the table. He looked at Sakura, noticing that she was no longer the quivering little flower he had dropped off with Sasori only hours before. Whatever the Puppet Master had done, it had worked. He shot her a smile and nodded when she gestured for him to sit down.

"Thanks, Dr Feel Good", Hidan smirked.

Sakura let out a very unladylike snort,"Don't tempt me."

"That a threat?"

"It's a promise.", Sakura stated in mock anger.

"You know you love me", the immortal smirked.

"Now, now, don't get too excited.", Sakura sighed dramatically.

Both looked at each other, faces red from trying to contain their laughter. They both turned to a quiet Itachi and couldn't stop themselves from laughing at the utterly confused look on his normally blank face.

Sakura wiped a tear from her eye just as Kakazu entered the kitchen.

"Ah, so you are not only our new medic, but the new cook as well.", Kakazu stated.

"Please tell me you did not just assume that I would do all the cooking because I'm a woman.", Sakura said sharply,"Choose your next words wisely or you may find yourself missing a few of those stitches."

"Calm down, Doc, Kakazu's always a dick. Just ignore him", Hidan said, pointing at his asshole of a partner.

"Whatever, sit down and wait for the other two before you start stuffing your stitch ridden face.", the pinkette sneered.

Hidan was surprised at her change in personality, whatever the Puppet Fucker had done really had worked better than he had originally thought. She had not only snapped at his partner, she had pretty much insulted him straight to his face. That took balls, he felt his respect for the petite pink haired woman sitting across from him grow.

Just as Kakazu was about to shoot a retort at the small woman sitting at the table, the remaining two Akatsuki members stepped into the kitchen. He bit back his retort, silently promising to get back at the woman later.

"So, I was right, yeah. Sakura-chan made everyone breakfast!", the blond cheered, running around the table to scoop the small woman up in a bear hug.

"Deidara, put her down before you snap her in half.", Itachi scolded with a raised eyebrow. His dark eyes swam with unyielding amusement as he watched the bomber sway the pink haired woman around a couple more times before setting her back down in her chair.

The blond shot Sakura one last smile before taking the seat at her left, while his partner took the remaining seat at her right.

"This looks wonderful, doll. Thank you.", Sasori appraised.

"It's no problem. I knew the minute I started cooking that all of you would end up swarming in here. I more so saved myself the trouble of having to fight off six grown ass men just to enjoy my meal.", she smirked.

"Aww, and here I thought you just loved us enough to cook for us, yeah.", Deidara whined from her left.

"Shit dude, that's what I said.", Hidan mumbled to the man next to him.

"Now, now, boys. The food will get cold. Now that we are all here, dig in!", Sakura cheered.

"Hai!", the blond and silvertte cheering before everyone dug into the meal that their new favorite medic, save for Kakazu, had made for them.

* * *

Their meal had been eaten in mostly silence, seeing as everybody at the table was preoccupied with stuffing their faces with the tasty food Sakura had made for them. Once their bellies were full and not a scrap of food was left, Sakura stood from her chair and began gathering plates so she could clean up after the meal. Just as she went to grab Deidara's plate, he grabbed her wrist.

"Why don't you let us handle this, you cooked so it's only fair if we clean up, yeah.", he offered.

"I don't know, I know for a fact that I can't trust any of you with a stove. What if you somehow manage to set the sink on fire?", Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We may not be useful when it comes to cooking, but I'm sure we can handle a few dishes.", Sasori snorted.

"Yeah, go relax, Doc. We fucking got this.", Hidan smirked.

"Fine, fine. I give up. Just don't blow anything up. Looking at you, Dei.", Sakura sighed.

"Why does she automatically think I'm going to blow things up?!", the blond whined.

Sakura looked him straight in the eye and spoke two words before turning away,"Mad Bomber."

"She has a point, brat."

"Shut your hole, yeah.", he pouted.

* * *

Itachi watched the pink haired medic leave the dining room, he was about to go join in his comrades in cleaning up after the meal but remembered that she had something she wished to speak to him about it. Deciding that the trio in the kitchen could handle it, he removed himself from the table, ignoring the scathing look that Kakazu shot his way, and headed towards the direction Sakura had left in.

She wasn't hard to find, she had gone back to her room and had left her door wide open. She had obviously expected him to follow her. He stood outside her door and waited for her to notice his presence. She raised a hand from where she was laying on her bed, beckoning him to come in. He walked into her room and shut the door softly behind him.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about, Sakura?", he asked.

"I have to tell you something about your brother, Itachi.", she sighed.

"You should know that he and I fighting is going to happen whether anybody likes it or not. It is the way things have to be."

"That's just it, you won't get the fight you want from your brother, Itachi."

"And why is that.", he whispered, he already had a feeling about what she was going to tell him. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear her say it though.

"I'm surprised you didn't know, honestly. With all the tabs you kept on him, it truly is shocking that you never knew. Your brother, Sasuke, died almost three years ago in a fight against some of the Snake Fuckers followers. He had returned to the village and had settled back in and for a few months everything was just like it used to be. We were sent on a mission and ambushed by Sound ninja. I should have been the one who died, but your brother took the hit instead. I couldn't stop him. He died smiling, I tried to heal him, but there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry, 'Tachi...", Sakura explained quietly, he voice drenched in sadness.

"I had a feeling that he was already gone, I don't think I was ready to believe it just yet.", Itachi began,"I know my brother would have died happy if he was able to protect the ones he cared for most. It looks like the massacre of our clan hadn't damaged him as much as I originally thought."

"He was quite damaged emotionally, but he was really starting to improve. He actually smiled sometimes. It was a nice change. I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you though."

"I don't think I would have believed it if anybody other than yourself told me.", he explained softly,"Thank you for telling me, Sakura."

Itachi turned to leave her room, he couldn't believe what a mature and kind woman she had grown up to be. The last time he had seem her was when she was eight, just before the massacre. She had once looked at him like an older brother of sorts, which he had actually enjoyed. He turned and gave her a small smile before turning the knob on her door and stepping out into the hallway. Just as he shut the door, he heard her call out softly to him.

"I really did miss you, 'Tachi-nii."

* * *

 **And that's another chapter down. I'm kind of happy with this chapter, but I feel like something is missing. And I'm not just talking about the feeling in my legs. I've been sitting on them for the last three hours and they've gone completely numb. I'm afraid to stand up, send help ASAP.**

 **Anyway!**

 **If you enjoyed, please leave a review, follow, and favorite.**

 **The more I see people reading and commenting on this story, the more motivated I am to updated it quicker. Granted I update pretty quickly as it is, but still. Hope you enjoyed.!**

 **Until next time, yeah!**


	8. Partners in Crime

**And here we go again! I just need to calm down, seriously. Oh well, someone is probably enjoying my almost obsessive updates.**

 **So, the most amusing thing happened this morning. I left a review on a fic that I was truly enjoying, but pointed out that they should maybe look into a beta to help them fix some of their grammatical and punctuation errors. They told me to get over it and blocked me. I think I may have made them angry. Oh well, not my problem ha!**

 **Anyways!**

 **Hello there, Akatianne, I know you're there, reading my words. You're the best darlin'! You're lucky we can't use emoji's on this site or I'd be spamming that inbox of your with hearts. Believe it!**

 **I do not own Naruto or its characters, just the plot to this story.**

 **Please leave a review, follow, and favorite if you enjoyed.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper.**

* * *

 _Previously on Heartbroken;_

 _Sakura awoke a couple hours later to the sound of frantic pounding on her bedroom door. Her eyes snapped open and she threw her blankets from her body, not caring that they flew onto the floor. She tore her door open quickly to find a bloody and panting Sasori at her door. Her eyes went wide as she took in his distraught appearance. He must have ran to her run at breakneck speed._

 _"What happened?!", she exclaimed._

 _"It's Deidara, we think he's been fatally wounded."_

 _Sakura tore out of her room at breakneck speed, not even caring about her state of dress. One thought went through her mind as she bolted down the hallway._

 _'Don't you dare die on me!'_

* * *

Sakura burst through the door of the infirmary, looking around frantically for the blond Bomber she was slowly coming to adore. She spotted him laying on a cot on the far side of the room and ran to his side. Blood seemed to be pouring out of every visible shred of skin. She could only imagine what it looked like underneath his clothes. Without thinking, she reached for the closest ninja to her, which happened to be Kisame, and dug into the weapon pouch strapped to his thigh, drawing out a kunai. She brought the weapon up to his cloak and carefully started to cut away his cloak and the clothing covering his upper body.

"What happened?", she asked as calmly as she could, not looking up from her task. She tossed aside his newly shredded cloak and made quick work of his crop top and mesh shirt.

"We don't even know, we all got separated. All we heard was a scream and an explosion. We found him like this.", Itachi spoke up from the cot he was sitting on.

Sakura nodded before she began to examine the wounds on his torso. He had a nasty gash slicing through his entire stomach, it had gone through all the muscle and she could see bits and pieces of his organs. She was grateful that he was completely out cold, or he wouldn't be able to hold back his screams of agony. The set the weapon in her hand down and grabbed a clean towel from one of the drawers next to the cot and started to carefully wipe away the blood the had started to accumulate on his stomach. Once the wound was clean, it was time for her to get to work. She didn't even notice when Sasori entered the room and stood so close to her and his partner that it could have been considered hovering.

She worked almost mechanically, not even noticing the three other men in the room watching her. She carefully stitched every tendon and muscle together. She prayed silently that he didn't decide to wake up half way through the procedure, that would make things a little more difficult. She was however, grateful that there didn't seem to be any shrapnel or anything of the sort in his wound. Once she stitched him back together, he would be fine. Which she was eternally grateful for. She wiped a few droplets of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand before she began healing the smaller cuts and bruises that seemed to liter the blond mans body. Once she was satisfied that he would be fine, she cut her chakra off and covered him with a clean bed sheet. She turned towards the other three men in the room once she was convinced that Deidara would be comfortable enough.

"Which one of you is next?", she said softly, eyeing each man in the room carefully.

"You're exhausted, doll. Our injuries can wait.", Sasori sighed, he hadn't meant to scare the poor girl but he had let his emotions get to him. He and the Bomber may not have been the closest, but he was his partner, and he cherished him. Not that he would ever admit it out loud to anybody. He'd be taking that statement to his grave.

"I'm fine, which one of you is next.", she insisted, looking at all of them pleadingly. She couldn't help but be worried. She knew why they had gone to Mist and the thought of any of them getting hurt on her behalf bothered her immensely.

"I've got a slight migraine from using my Sharingan too long.", Itachi spoke softly, he knew full well that they weren't going to win this one so he figured he might as well get it over with and let her heal him.

Sakura smiled softly at the Uchiha and walked quietly over to him, careful not to wake the blond across from where Itachi sat. She raised her chakra laced fingers to his temples and easily soothed the ache in his head. She couldn't help but smile when she heard him sigh softly, contented.

"Anything else, 'Tachi?", she asked quietly. He shook his head no and got up to head to his room for a shower and some sleep.

Sakura let him go and turned towards the other two men in the room.

"Next.", she ordered sternly, there was no way they were getting away from her healing hands that easily.

"I don't have any injuries to heal, just a few superficial cuts that'll heal on there own.", Kisame shrugged.

Sakura nodded, accepting his answer before turning to glare at the red head.

"I'm fine, doll. You should rest.", he insisted.

"Either tell me what injuries you have or so help me Kami, I will strip you where you stand and examine you by force.", she threatened.

"I am the same as Kisame, my wounds are few and they will heal within a few days.", he sighed.

Sakura sighed but nodded nonetheless.

"If you say so, I'm going to stay in here with Deidara for the night in case he wakes up. You two should go clean up and get some sleep. I'll check on you all in the morning."

Both men nodded and exited the room.

Once both men left the room, Sakura turned back towards the man still there. She smiled sadly down at Deidara before going about the room, she grabbed his shredded and discarded clothing from the floor and threw it in a nearby trash can. She picked up the kunai she had stolen from Kisame and wiped the blood that had gotten on it off with the towel she had used to clean the blonds wounds. Once the room was clean again, she pulled a chair over to the side on Deidara's bed and sat down.

"I can't thank you enough for what you and the others did for me, but why did you have to go and get yourself hurt? I know I've only been here a couple of days but already I feel so close to all of you. I don't know what I'd do if one of you got killed on my account. I don't want to see more people I care about leave this life, I don't think I could take it.", she whispered to him, knowing full well that he couldn't hear her. But it still made her feel better to be able to tell him anyways, regardless of whether or not he could currently hear her words. She'd tell him the same thing once he woke up, but it felt good to say it anyways.

Sakura let out a wide yawn before settling her arms by Deidara's chest and laying her head in them. Her back would be stiff and sore when she woke up, but she didn't care. She didn't want him to wake up thinking he was all alone. She wanted him to see that she hadn't left his side once since he had been brought to her. Out of impulse, she raised her head and laid a small kiss on the blonds forehead before laying her head back down. She let out another soft yawn and closed her eyes for some much needed rest.

* * *

Kisame peered over at the red headed man walking beside him,"You think it's really a good idea to leave her alone in there with Deidara?", he asked.

"She will be fine, I assume you could tell as much as I could that we wouldn't win if we tried to get her to go back to her room", Sasori sighed.,"Besides, it will more than likely comfort the brat to know she stayed with him while he was recovering."

"Suppose you're right.", Kisame nodded before entering his bedroom and wishing the Puppet Master a goodnight.

Sasori continued his walk down the hallway towards his bedroom, the events of the evening still rushing through his mind. Though Sakura had only been at the base for a couple of days, he had seen her change so much. And it had all occurred after she had told the brat and himself about her past. She had gone from a whimpering pile of flesh to a cheerful woman in a matter of days. When the blond had been injured and he had been forced to have to wake the medic up, he had never seen her eyes so full of fear and determination. An odd combination but he thought it suited her. The fear of losing somebody she cared about had kicked in and she had refused to let himself or the others leave the infirmary until she had either checked them over or they convinced her that they were fine. At first, he thought it was because she was doing her job as a medic. But now that he thought about it, he knew that there was more to it than that. She wanted to help her new 'family' in the one way she knew she could.

Sasori let out a soft sigh before entering his bedroom and stripped off his soiled cloak. He frowned down at the blood and dirt stained fabric, knowing that he would have to trash it and get another one. He knew that Sakura's newly tailored cloaks would be arriving at some point the next day so he would just get the one he borrowed from her back. It was quicker than having to wait for a new one to be made for him. With that in mind, Sasori made his way to his own bathroom and scrub the blood from his body and dress the small cuts and bruises his body was sporting.

Once the red head was clean and dressed in a simple pair of black sleep pants and a plain black cotton shirt, he padded over to his bed and crawled underneath his covers. His thoughts went back to the frantic medic he had woken up tonight and sighed.

 _'The girl better get some rest tonight or she's in for a rude awakening in the morning.'_ he thought before closing his eyes and letting sleep consume him.

* * *

Sakura was startled out of her sleep a few hours later to the feeling of something touching her hair. She slowly opened her eyes and peered over at the blond on the cot next to her, her green eyes locked with a single bright blue eye.

"You're awake, I see. How do you feel?", she whispered, yawning softly behind a hand.

"Sore at hell, yeah. What the hell happened?", the blond groaned, trying to sit up but stopped when he felt a sharp pain from his stomach.

"Well, I was hoping that you would be able to answer that question. Sasori and the others found you with a gaping hole in your stomach. They rushed you home a few hours ago.", she explained.

"And you healed me?", he asked, when she nodded, he had another question for her,"Why didn't you go back to your own room and sleep?"

She smiled sweetly,"I didn't think you would have wanted to wake up in a hospital bed alone, especially since you don't remember what happened."

"Got me there, yeah. How long until I can get out of this bed?", he groaned. If there was one thing the blond artist hated, it was being stuck in a hospital bed and unable to fend for himself. He liked to move around, he liked to talk, and furthermore, he kind of liked having Sakura curled up next to him. But he'd keep that little comment to himself.

"Well, let me take another look at your stomach and heal it some more, if you're lucky, you'll be good as new by morning.", she explained before standing from her chair, laughing to herself when Deidara's hand dropped to the bed with a low flop. She had completely forgotten that he had been petting her hair. She pulled the sheets down from his torso and tucked them by his waist. She didn't miss the way his eyes widened when he took in the sight of his stomach. All that was there was a small light pink scar, just how was he still in pain, he wondered.

"Your muscles are still healing themselves, I can only do so much with chakra. I'll numb the pain so you can get some more sleep. I think you'll be better by morning.", she smiled.

"Thank Kami, yeah. Was I the only one hurt or are the others hurt as well?", he sighed. Though he was known for being a total asshole to most people, he really did cherish his comrades. Not that he'd ever admit that out loud.

"You were the only one, Sasori carried you here and when he got you settled on a cot, he damn near bashed my door in in a panic.", she smirked.

"Sasori carried me, yeah? And actually showed concern for me? I'm going to have to give him shit for that later.", he laughed, letting out a small wheeze when his stomach muscles clenched.

"I'd probably try to refrain from laughing until morning.", she said, rolling her eyes. She pulled her hands away from his stomach and laughed at the confused look on the blonds face, he must not have even noticed she was healing him.

She sat back down in her chair, starting to get herself comfortable once again.

"You're not going to go back to your room, yeah?", he asked.

"Nope, I'm not leaving this room until you're up and walking. Get some sleep, Dei. I'll be here when you wake up.", she yawned, settling her arms back on his bed and within seconds, her breathing evened out.

Deidara swore his heart skipped a beat, she really did care about him and the others. Suddenly he wasn't so upset about being injured. If being injured and laid up in a hospital bed meant having an adorable pink haired medic sleeping as close to you as possible and refusing to leave his side, well, maybe he'd get hurt more often. Or not, he still hated being stuck in a bed. He sighed softly before getting himself comfortable.

Sleep consumed him a few minutes later.

* * *

Before Sakura knew it, two months had passed since her encounter with Sasori in the forest. Thinking back on it now, she didn't regret her choice one bit. She found that she was happier here with her new family than she had ever been back in her village. Since her defection eight months prior, she hadn't seen anybody from her former village once. Granted she didn't leave the base very often. It wasn't because she didn't want to leave, it was because she now had five self appointed brothers that decided they wanted to protect her from the world. Leader kept a close eye on her from a distance, she knew he cared for her but wasn't the greatest at showing it. She didn't mind too much. She still hardly spoke to Kakazu, but it wasn't because of their stupid argument when she had first come to the base. They had made up for that ages ago, she just barely saw the stitched up nin. He didn't seem to leave his room much unless he and Hidan were summoned for a mission.

"Sakura-chaaaaaaaan", a voice whined loudly from outside her bedroom door.

"What is it, Dei?", she groaned, she was trying to sleep damn it! Leader needed her for some kind of mission later that day and she wanted to catch a nap before hand.

"Come play with me, yeah!", Deidara complained before a scratching noise was heard against the door.

She swore the blond was like a damn cat, the idiot didn't knock. He scratched the doors. God only knew why.

"You're a grown ass man and that sounds creepy. Ask Sasori to play with you.", she huffed, silently throwing her blankets off her body. She knew he wasn't going to leave her alone anytime soon.

"Not like that you perv! And asking Sasori would sound creepier, yeah!", he groaned.

"Fine, you win, but you'll just have to settle for walking with me to Leader's office. He has a mission for me.", she sighed, quickly braiding her waist length pink hair down her back. It took a lot of begging from the Artistic Duo for her to grow her hair back out. Most days it wasn't hard to deal with, but there were days that having such long hair was down right annoying. Not only did her two artists enjoy playing with her hair, Hidan had taken to playing with it too. Granted it was just rolling the silky hairs through his fingers, but still.

"Why is he sending you on a mission? You rarely get missions that aren't within the village, considering you were never assigned a partner, yeah", he said through the door.

"I'm not sure what the mission is, Dei. I'm about to go and find out what it is.", she huffed, throwing on her white short shorts, black medic skirt, and black zip up before snapping her cloak on. Once she was decent, she padded over to her door and opened it, getting an eyeful of black fabric.

"Morning Sakura-chan!", he grinned childishly.

"Must you stand so close to the door?", he asked in mock anger. If there was one thing that she had learned about the blond in the last couple of months, was that he was really a child at heart. A child who really liked to blow things up. And that he was a bit of a cuddler. Every time everybody at the base decided to be normal for once and just sit and watch a movie, she and Deidara usually ended up in a tangle of cuddly limbs. Not that either of them minded.

"Of course, I know it's the only way I'll get my morning hug, yeah", he smirked.

Sakura laughed outright at his logic and sidestepped him before heading towards the stairs that led to Leader's office. The blond artist fell into step beside her and the two walked in mostly silence while they made their way to Leader's quarters. Since the incident in Mist where the blond had gotten hurt, they had found that they had become damn near attached at the hip. When they were seen out and about in the village, maybe people would whisper thinking that they were a couple. Which they both denied, Deidara more so saw the pink haired medic as his sister. And Sakura saw him as her goofy older brother. It didn't stop the rumors though, much to their amusement. At one point Hidan had started to refer to them as the Incest Twins, which they both thought was hilarious. Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori didn't find that name as amusing though. They had put a stop to it quickly. Though the silver haired priest still referred to the blond and pinkette as the Incest Twins when the others weren't around.

When they reached Leader's door, Sakura wasted no time in knocking of the door. When she was given permission to enter, she opened the door and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her, leaving the blond in the hallway to wait for her.

* * *

"Sakura, thank you for joining me.", Leader began. He too, was impressed by the progress that the medic was making with her emotional state, he just hoped that she would be strong enough to accomplish the mission he was about to assign her.

"Of course, you did summon me after all. What can I do for you, Leader?", she asked, bowing her head slightly.

"As you know, I have a mission for you. It is of the utmost importance that you do this mission for me. You will be allowed to choose one other member of the organization to join you.", he explained.

"And what is this mission, Leader?", she asked curiously.

"Your mission, Sakura Haruno, is to assassinate the Hidden Leaf's Hokage."

Sakura stared at Leader, her eyes widened slightly. She drew in a deep breath before calming herself. She had cut ties with her village near a year ago, this wouldn't be an issue. Though killing her former teacher may prove difficult, the woman was a Sannin after all. She steeled her nerves and a flash of determination shone in her green eyes.

"Understood."

* * *

 **So yeah, that happened.**

 **Deidara lives!**

 **Little time skip thrown in there.**

 **Aww brotherly Dei, so cute!**

 **Sakura's got her ass a mission!**

 **Who's she going to take with her back to the Leaf?**

 **I don't know yet, help! Ha!**

 **Fun fact; The nickname Incest Twins actually is a nickname two of my older brothers use for me and my brother Aksel lol. He's two years older than me but we're pretty much attached at the hip. No funny stuff though, that's just...no. Ha!**

 **Anyways!**

 **If you enjoyed, please leave a review, favorite, and follow!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	9. Discord

**Aww yeah, here we go! I literally started to write this chapter right after I posted the last one. I just couldn't help myself. You guys have turned my writing hobby into a damned obsession. Not that I'm complaining. Moving on...**

 **Special thanks to SaffyKitten who has reviewed on a couple of my chapters, truly appreciate your input. Your message actually gave me a little more confidence when writing this. You're a doll. :) And just know, I may mean that in a loving Sasori kinda way. HA!**

 **Possibly interesting Authors Note at the end.**

 **Anyway!**

 **I do not own Naruto or its characters, just the plot to this story.**

 **Please leave a review, follow, and favorite if you enjoyed.**

 **S Lyubov'yu,**

 **Casper.**

* * *

 _Previously on Heartbroken;_

 _"Sakura, thank you for joining me.", Leader began. He too, was impressed by the progress that the medic was making with her emotional state, he just hoped that she would be strong enough to accomplish the mission he was about to assign her._

 _"Of course, you did summon me after all. What can I do for you, Leader?", she asked, bowing her head slightly._

 _"As you know, I have a mission for you. It is of the utmost importance that you do this mission for me. You will be allowed to choose one other member of the organization to join you.", he explained._

 _"And what is this mission, Leader?", she asked curiously._

 _"Your mission, Sakura Haruno, is to assassinate the Hidden Leaf's Hokage."_

 _Sakura stared at Leader, her eyes widened slightly. She drew in a deep breath before calming herself. She had cut ties with her village near a year ago, this wouldn't be an issue. Though killing her former teacher may prove difficult, the woman was a Sannin after all. She steeled her nerves and a flash of determination shone in her green eyes._

 _"Understood."_

* * *

Pein's eyes almost widened at his medics response, he had half expected her to protest taking such a mission. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter. Konoha's ninja were starting to cause trouble in his plans and with the Hokage out of the way, capturing the nine-tailed beast would become slightly easier. There would be no Sanin left to protect him from his organization. Over the last two months since Sakura had joined him, he had seen a large change in the woman in front of him, she was no longer the terrified woman that he had sent Sasori to find. She had recovered and had become quite a powerful asset to his plans. Shortly after she had healed her comrades after their mission to the Mist, she had started training with each of the members at least once a week to improve herself. The petite woman was now a force to be reckoned with. He had no doubt that she would have little issue with the mission he had assigned her, but he always sent his people out with their respective partners. When she had joined, he had had no intentions of sending her out on the field, seeing as he had her brought here to be a medic. But he had slowly come to the realization that she had other talents that didn't just include healing.

"Who are you going to bring with you on this mission?", he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I haven't decided yet, I will inform you by the end of the afternoon if you would allow me to think over my choices", she requested.

Pein nodded and dismissed her from her office after informing her that she would leave the base before tomorrow night to begin her mission.

She bowed respectfully and left the office, knowing that none of her boys were going to be very happy with the mission she was assigned. They didn't doubt her abilities in a fight, but they didn't like seeing her hurt either. They felt bad enough when they left bruises on her body when she sparred with them. Seeing her put in a possible lift threatening situation but liable to give them all minor heart attacks. She just hoped that the fact that she was bringing one of them with her would help soothe some of their worries. But she wasn't going to get her hopes up. They were going to fight her tooth and nail on who she was going to bring. They were all going to state their reasons as to why she should take them with her. But ultimately, it was up to her to choose her partner for this task.

Sakura took a deep breath to calm her nerves before opening the door, fully knowing that Deidara would still be outside in the hallway waiting for her. The minute she stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her with a soft click, Deidara's questions began.

"So what's your mission, yeah?! Are you staying in the village for the mission or are you leaving, yeah? You're not leaving the village without us, right, un?! Come on, Sakura-chan! That suspense is killing me, yeah!", the blond cried, his questions coming out of his mouth like rapid fire.

"I will explain my mission to all of you down in the common room, just know this, Dei, none of you are going to like it one bit.", she sighed before making her way down the stairs towards the common room.

Deidara shot her a grim look before nodding and followed her down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, he split away from her to go and grab the others so they could all hear about this mission that was apparently going to piss them off. For her sake, he really hoped she was just being sarcastic.

* * *

Sakura entered the common room and made a beeline for the couch and flopped herself down on its cushions in a very unladylike manner. She didn't give a damn at this point if she acted like a lady, she lived with more than half a dozen men for Kami's sake. She was just a hairs breath away from joining their farting and burping contests. They already tried to get her to join them when they decided to make their bodily functions into a contest, she always refused. She was slowly coming to the realization that if you can't beat them, join them. She laughed softly to herself at the thought.

"Something funny, Doc?", Hidan asked as he and the others entered the common room. It wasn't uncommon for them to find her sprawled out haphazardly on the couches of floor. Usually they would have found it amusing and laughed a little at her expense, but this was no time for laughing. Their little Blossom had a mission and from what the blond had told them all, they weren't going to like what she had to tell them.

"Not at all, just thinking.", Sakura sighed before rolling herself off the couch and gesturing for her adopted family to find a place to sit.

When all the men were seated, Itachi spoke up and asked the question that everybody was currently trying not to ask.

"So, what is this mission you are taking that we aren't going to like?", he asked, a hint of worry in his normally blank eyes.

"Right to the point, I see. Well, here's the run down, tomorrow myself and one of you will be leaving for the Leaf Village. Our mission is to assassinate the Hokage and my former teach Tsunade.", she explained quickly, she braced herself for them to start trying to stop her from going, even though they all knew that she had her orders and had to follow them.

There was about five seconds of silence before all hell broke out.

"You better know that you are taking me, doll", Sasori ground out. Over his dead body would she be going on this mission without him.

"Fuck off, puppet boy, Doc is bringing me with her", Hidan snapped. There was no way the medic was leaving the base without him there to watch her back.

"She's obviously going to be taking me.", Kisame huffed. He didn't doubt her abilities as a ninja, but something about this mission just didn't sit right with him.

"She's taking me and that's final, un!", Deidara growled, Sakura hadn't been lying, none of them like this one bit.

"I do believe she will be taking me along, seeing as that is also my home village and together she and I would have a greater advantage of succeeding.", Itachi pointed out.

Nobody could deny that the Uchiha had a point. None of them quite liked that fact though.

"I know all of you have concerns with me going on this mission but I have already made my decision on who I am taking with me. And once I tell you who it is, I beg you guys not to fight me on this. Because me bringing him seems like the best choice due to his abilities.", she sighed, eyeing each of the men in the room lovingly.

When she received five nods of understanding, she continued.

"I've decided that I'm taking Hidan with me", she said softly, pointing to the silver haired ninja who was trying to pick his jaw up off the floor at the moment.

"Might you enlighten us as to why, doll?", Sasori said with a frown.

"It seemed obvious to me, he's immortal. Unless he has a limb detached, I won't have to worry about healing him in the midst of battle. He seemed like the best choice.", she explained, smiling lovingly at all of them. They hadn't started to yell and argue like she had asked.

Everybody seemed to accept her answer, though reluctantly. Though they wanted to be the ones to go with her, they trusted Hidan enough to know that he would keep her safe. Plus her argument about not having to worry about healing his wounds was a really good point. They would worry like mother hens the entire time she was gone but they would endure. They knew that she would come back to them just fine. Lest Hidan wanted the true extent of his immortality to be tested.

"When do we leave, Doc?", Hidan asked, finally recovering from the shock of being picked by the pink haired medic. He thought for sure she would have chosen the Mad Bomber or the Puppet Fucker. She was closest to the both of them, after all. He knew that she had love for all of them, but they all knew that her love for those two ran just a little bit deeper. None of the others let that bother them though. All of them knew of the things she had endured before she had been brought here and they were all proud of how far she had come.

"Leader wants us gone by tomorrow night. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go let Leader know who I have chosen to take with me. Once I get back, how about we all go get some lunch?", he asked, smiling at all the men before her.

When all five of the men nodded, she turned around and headed back in the direction of Pein's office to report what she had decided. Hopefully he would be as supportive of her choice to take Hidan as the others had been.

* * *

Pein heard a knock on the door of his office, he had no doubt in his mind that it was Sakura returning to let him know who she had chosen to bring with her on her mission.

"Enter.", he called calmly.

He watched the pink haired medic enter his office with pride and grace. She bowed her head respectfully before she began to speak.

"I have chosen to bring Hidan with me to the Leaf to carry out my mission with me.", she stated calmly.

"Interesting choice. Care to elaborate as to why?"

"His immortality will obviously come in handy, if he is injured during our mission I will not have to worry about healing him. His body will do it by itself. The only time I will have to heal him is in the off chance that he loses a limb. Plus I believe that him being able to use his prayer form will come in handy as well. I plan to get my hands on some of Tsunade's blood so we can take her out by using her as a sacrifice to Jashin.", Sakura explained.

"Interesting. I approve. When will you two be heading out?"

"We will leave tomorrow morning, once I have finished talking with you we will be going to get some lunch. I will go over the mission details in full with Hidan tonight so he is aware of my plan.", Sakura continued to explain.

Pein was impressed to say the least, she had everything planned out already and he had only given her the mission an hour prior. The girl seemed to be a natural at coming up with plans. And they were impressive.

"Acceptable. I don't think I have to tell you that failure is not an option."

"Of course, Leader. I wouldn't dream of disappointing you.", she smirked, a dangerous glint in her vibrant jade eyes.

"Very well. Dismissed."

Sakura nodded her head and turned to leave the office. Once Pein heard the door click shut once again he let a small smirk grace his features.

 _'Perhaps she will become an even greater asset to my plans'_

* * *

Sakura made her way back to the common room where she knew that the others would be waiting for her. When she entered the room she smiled at her boys, all of them were sprawled out haphazardly around the room. Itachi on a chair, Sasori and Deidara on the floor, Kisame on a couch, and Hidan on the coffee table. She let out a delighted laugh at the scene in front of her. And these guys were some of the most feared men in the world?

"Well, are you guys going to lay there all day or are we going to get some food, yeah?", she asked with a smirk.

"Oh God, Blondie rubbed off on her. She's got his fucking speech impediment.", Hidan cried in mock horror.

"It isn't a speech impediment, yeah! It's a habit!", Deidara defended from his place on the floor, he flailed an arm in an attempt to wack the silver haired ninja but quickly gave up when he realized that he was too far away.

"Now, now you two. Let's go get some lunch before I decide to leave you all and elope with Kisame.", she laughed.

"Why me, Pinky?", Kisame asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe I just like fish enough to marry one.", she shrugged, earning a laugh from all of them aside from Itachi, who smirked.

"That's kinda gross, yeah.", Deidara pointed out.

Sakura just shrugged before poking Deidara and Sasori in the ribs to get them to pick themselves off the floor. Next, she moved over to Hidan. She tried poking him in the ribs but he didn't budge. With a sigh of mock frustration, she grabbed onto his cloak and promptly flipped him off the table. A shriek of surprise left the priests lips as he landed with a thud on the floor. He shot the medic a baleful glare before picking himself up off the floor. She turned to the last two in the room and gave them a pointed look before they got up from their respective relaxation spots.

"Now that we're all up, let's go eat.", Sakura cheered happily.

"What should we eat tonight, yeah?", the blond bomber asked.

"Dango."

"Itachi, no."

"We will be eating dango."

"I'm sick of dango, yeah"

"Dango..."

"Itachi, I think we need to have a little chat about your obsession with dango if our partnership if going to last."

"Dango."

"God damn it, 'Tachi! We are not eating dango!"

"Fine...ramen."

"Better", came the collective reply.

With a defeated sigh from the usually calm and collected Uchiha, the group of six made there way out of the base and made their way to the closest ramen stand.

Itachi made a mental note to hoard as much dango as he could in his room.

* * *

When the group of six found a ramen stand that would fit all of them, they hoisted themselves onto stools and picked up their menus.

"I'm thinking pork ramen tonight, yeah", Deidara cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"Dei, you literally always get pork ramen.", Sakura pointed out, earning a shrug from the blond.

"I'm going with miso", Sasori sighed as he set down his menu.

"Again, you always get that."

"Well I'm getting-"

"Shrimp ramen, yes we know Kisame."

The owner of the stand came over to the six Akatsuki members as calmly as he could, which wasn't very calm. The six didn't even blink at his uneasiness. It was to be expected. Before any of the boys could speak, Sakura quickly ordered them all their usuals, earning a few dirty looks which she ignored.

"Not my fault you guys never change your orders.", she shrugged.

They all sighed and nodded, she had a point.

"Oh yeah, while I'm thinking about it, Hidan, when we get back come with me to my room. I want to go over the mission details with you and go over the plan I have.", Sakura spoke up, pounding her fist into an open palm.

"Sure, Doc, whatever you say.", he nodded.

Their food came about ten minutes later. They ate in complete silence, all of them lost in their own thoughts about their medic going on a mission that could, quite possibly, get her fatally injured. Not just anybody could take on one of the Legendary Sanin, former apprentice or not. They would just have to put their faith in Hidan and hope to every holy deity that existed that he kept her safe.

Once their food was eaten, Sakura slapped a few bills onto the counter and followed the other out of the stand. The walk through Ame back to the base was almost deafeningly silent. Sakura knew that her going on this mission caused concern in each and every one of her family members. She would make them proud. This was her chance to prove to them that she could protect herself and make it so they didn't have to worry about her so much. She appreciated their concern, but she didn't want them to have to always worry about her well being. She was a grown woman, she could protect herself. She just needed to prove it to them.

When they arrived at the base, they agreed to meet Sakura and Hidan in the morning before they left for Konoha. The duo nodded and parted from their comrades to head to Sakura's room to discuss the mission.

* * *

Hidan sat carefully on Sakura's perfectly made bed, falling backwards with a huff.

"You sure you're alright with doing this, Doc?", he asked carefully,"You know we could probably talk to Leader if you aren't comfortable with killing your former teacher."

"As much as I appreciate your concern, I don't need it. I'm prepared to do this. I cut my tires entirely with my village the minute I defected. Do I still care for them? A little, I did grow up there after all. But will it interfere with my mission and my orders? Fuck no. I'm fully prepared to kill Tsunade and anybody else that gets in my way.", she retorted.

"As you wish, Doc. So what's this fucking plan you have?", he sighed.

"It's simple. I'm going to get my hands on some of Tsunade's blood and then I'm going to have you sacrifice her to Jashin. If memory serves you're due for a ritual and so we'll be killing two birds with one stone.", she smirked, taking a seat on her bed next to the lounging ninja.

"Hmm, sacrificing a Sanin to Jashin-Sama. That'll get me some bonus points from him, that's for fucking sure. You get me the blood and I'll make it the best ritual I've ever preformed.", he said, turning his head to return her smirk.

The two continued to talk idly about their mission in the morning for a few more minutes, just working out not so important details before Hidan decided it was time to head back to his own room to pack for their journey. It was at least a week long walk to Fire Country so they would be gone for at least three weeks. A week to get there, a week to get the job done, and a week to get back home. If they thought about it logically, they were more likely to be gone at least a month. They weren't about to lie to themselves, they knew this mission wasn't going to be a walk in the park. They were to take down the last of the Sanin. It wasn't going to be easy.

But that didn't mean they weren't looking forward to the epic battle they were about to face.

When they parted for the night, both wore similar sadistic smiles on their faces.

* * *

The next morning seemed to come a lot quicker than the other Akatsuki members in the base would have preferred. Today they would be sending their precious medic and a sadistic priest on what could end up being a suicide mission. They knew the two were under orders and that Sakura had taken the mission willingly, but it still didn't quell their worries and concerns. But they would just have to grit their teeth and bare it. If anyone of them could go in her place, they would do so in a heartbeat. But alas, they were S-class criminals, not miracle workers.

Slowly each member present on the base made their way to the entryway of the base. Even Kakazu showed, which surprised everybody. He must have heard about the medics mission the night before from his partner.

"Are we really going to let her do this, yeah?", Deidara sighed, his blond hair still mused from sleep. It seemed that the others were in a similar state of dress. Still in their night cloths, hair a mess, and not giving a damn about their appearances right then. They had more important matters to tend to.

"We do not have a choice, brat. Have some faith.", Sasori grunted.

"She will be fine.", Itachi said calmly.

"The girl has spunk, I'm not worried about her. That crazy ass priest won't let anything happen to her.", Kisame added.

Kakazu just grunted in agreement.

A few moments later, the duo made their way into the room. Their packs hung loosely from their shoulders. They wore their cloaks with pride, their straw hats in hung from their hands firmly. Time to go.

"Come home safe, yeah?", Deidara demanded, taking the young medic into his arms for a quick hug, he felt her nod into his shoulder before releasing her.

"Knock'em dead, Kitten.", Kisame grunted, roughly petting the pinkettes hair, earning himself a glare from the medic. He shrugged it off.

"Good luck, doll. Try to bring back a new specimen for a puppet for me.", Sasori sighed lightly.

"You and your puppets, I'll see what I can do.", Sakura replied with a roll of her eyes.

Sakura turned her head and locked eyes with Itachi, no words were exchanged but they didn't need to say anything. She knew what he wanted to say.

 _'Don't you dare get hurt or die on us'_

She nodded her head as if she had read his eyes. She tore her eyes away from the Uchiha and looked over at the stitched up ninja in the room with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't die.", Kakazu grunted before taking his leave from the room.

Nobody was surprised, they all just shook their head at his retreating figure.

"Aren't any of you assholes going to giving me any sweet parting words, huh?!", Hidan pouted.

"Don't get her killed.", came the collective cry.

Hidan's pout grew before he grabbed Sakura's elbow, leading her towards the door,"Time to go, Doc."

"Let's get this done then.", Sakura nodded, determination shining in her eyes.

The temporary partners left the base and didn't look back.

Operation Assassinate the Godame Hokage had begun.

* * *

 **Dear sweet baby Jesus that took longer than I had hoped to write. I got a but sidetracked though. Sorry haha!**

 **It's mission time Ladies and Gentleman!**

 **The reason I got a little distracted from this chapter was because I started writing yet another story. It's a Pein x Sakura AU hehehe. Hopefully you'll enjoy it just as much as you do this story. I have already posted the first couple of chapters to it but this story will be my first priority. It's called Clash if you're interested in checking it out. :)**

 **Anyway!**

 **Please leave a review, follow, and favorite if you enjoyed.**

 **Until Next Time!**


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